Electrolytes that reduce electro-osmotic drag improve fast charging of lithium-ion batteries
Fast charging (at rates greater than 4 C) is essential for high-energy lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles yet remains challenging owing to a lack of understanding of fast-charging barriers. Conventional optimization strategies concentrate on shortening lithium-ion transport pathways through electrode structure modification, which often compromises energy densities. In this work, we demonstrate that thick-electrode fast charging is constrained by solvent withdrawal within porous electrodes and the resulting electro-osmotic drag polarization, which is driven by cation-induced electro-osmotic drag. To reduce electro-osmotic drag polarization, we designed electrolytes with weak cation solvation and strong anion solvation, where a difluorinated solvent weakens lithium-cation solvation and its difluoromethyl hydrogen atoms enhance anion solvation through hydrogen bonding. This electrolyte enables thick-electrode, energy-dense batteries to achieve 80% charge within 13 minutes.
Authors
- Gabriel M. Veith (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5186-4461)
- Jacob M. LaManna (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7105-022X)
- Sean Fayfar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3097-0054)
- Boris Khaykovich (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9490-2771)
- Daniel S. Hussey (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2851-4367)
- Fu Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-2411-9335)
- David L. Jacobson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0699-5486)
- Zhao Chang-xin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3133-0814)
- Chunsheng Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8626-6381)
- Yue Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1874-2999)
- Xilin Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3135-7120)
- Lei Zheng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-7405-3880)
- Zeyi Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-9340-3907)
Institutions
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (US)
- National Institute of Standards and Technology (US)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
- University of Maryland, College Park (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Science
- Published
- 2025-11-13
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adv1739
- Citations
- 10
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Battery Materials and Technologies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 7.30