Delocalized electrolyte design enables 600 Wh kg<sup>-1</sup> lithium metal pouch cells.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 40804520.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41586-025-09382-4.
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Abstract
The development of high-energy lithium metal batteries (LMBs) is essential for advances in next-generation energy storage and electric vehicle technologies<sup>1-3</sup>. Nevertheless, the practical applications of LMBs are constrained by current electrolyte designs that inherently rely on dominant solvation structures, preventing transformative progress in performance optimization<sup>4,5</sup>. Here, we address this limitation through a delocalized electrolyte design that fosters a more disordered solvation microenvironment, thereby mitigating dynamic barriers and stabilizing interphases. The resulting delocalized electrolyte delivers notable energy densities of 604.2 Wh kg<sup>-1</sup> in a 5.5-Ah LiNi<sub>0.9</sub>Co<sub>0.05</sub>Mn<sub>0.05</sub>O<sub>2</sub> (Ni90)||Li pouch cell with a lean electrolyte design (1.0 g Ah<sup>-1</sup>) and 618.2 Wh kg<sup>-1</sup> in a 5.2-Ah Ni90||Li pouch cell with an ultralean electrolyte design (0.9 g Ah<sup>-1</sup>), maintaining significant cycle stability over 100 and 90 cycles, respectively. In addition, the 70-104 V NCM811||Li battery pack (3,904 Wh) exhibits a high energy density of 480.9 Wh kg<sup>-1</sup> and stable cycling over 25 cycles. These results demonstrate the need to circumvent inherent reliance on dominant solvation structures in electrolyte design to achieve the high-energy Battery600 and scalable Pack480 targets.