Rechargeable lithium- ion batteries are of great interest as advanced power sources for medically implanted and external devices owing to their high theoretical volumetric energy density. In Phase I it was demonstrated that novel, stable, alkyl carbonate solvents synthesized in-house afforded high stability at the graphite anode upon cycling. The investigators showed that their electrolytes comprising these new solvents could substantially outperform the benchmark state-of-the-art electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries. Phase II research will focus on additional solvent synthesis, the conditions of which were determined in Phase I. They will also conduct a mechanistic study of the beneficial interfacial properties afforded by these novel solvents at the anode. Finally, they will fabricate and subject to long term cycling at physiological temperature cells utilizing these novel solvents, graphite anode and LiCoO2 or LiMn2O4 spinel cathode materials. Lithium-ion batteries developed in this project will potentially manifest characteristics of both higher power in a smaller package along with excellent cycle life for VAS applications.
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