%0 Journal Article %K Fluorinated polymers %K Nonflammable electrolytes %A Dominica H. C Wong %A Jacob L Thelen %A Yanbao Fu %A Didier H Devaux %A Ashish A Pandya %A Vincent S Battaglia %A Nitash P Balsara %A Joseph M DeSimone %B Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences %D 2014 %N 9 %P 3327 - 3331 %R 10.1073/pnas.1314615111 %T Nonflammable perfluoropolyether-based electrolytes for lithium batteries %V 111 %8 03/2014 %! Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences %X

The flammability of conventional alkyl carbonate electrolytes hinders the integration of large-scale lithium-ion batteries in transportation and grid storage applications. In this study, we have prepared a unique nonflammable electrolyte composed of low molecular weight perfluoropolyethers and bis(trifluoromethane)sulfonimide lithium salt. These electrolytes exhibit thermal stability beyond 200 °C and a remarkably high transference number of at least 0.91 (more than double that of conventional electrolytes). Li/LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 cells made with this electrolyte show good performance in galvanostatic cycling, confirming their potential as rechargeable lithium batteries with enhanced safety and longevity.