Nitrile-modified 2, 5-di-tert-butyl-hydroquinones as redox shuttle overcharge additives for lithium-ion batteries

Abstract

Nitrile-modified 2, 5-di-tert-butyl-hydroquinones were synthesized and investigated as redox shuttle overcharge additives for LiFePO4/Li cells. The cyanoethylation reaction was utilized to synthesize the target molecules 2, 5-di-tert-butyl-1, 4-di(β-cyanoethoxyl)benzene (RS-DCN) and 2, 5-di-tert-butyl-1-(β-cyanoethoxyl)-4-methoxybenzene (RS-MCN) in high efficiency from 2, 5-di-tert-butyl-hydroquinone and acrylonitrile. The solubility, cyclic voltammetric measurements, 5 V overcharge test, 100% overcharge test, high rate performance under 100% overcharge conditions, and cycle performance under normal conditions were studied in detail for the electrolyte with the addition of RS-DCN or RS-MCN. The RS-MCN compounds with the asymmetric structure delivered better solubility (with max. 0.3 mol·L−1 in 1.0 mol·L−1 LiPF6/EC+DEC+EMC, 1: 1: 1, in vol.), higher overcharge protection life (over 1200 h for the 5 V overcharge test), and excellent rate performance under 100% overcharge conditions (specific discharge capacity reached 153.5 mAh·g−1 at 2.5C). The addition of RS-MCN also improved the cycling performance of the LiFePO4/Li cell under the charge-discharge voltage range of 2.5− 3.8 V.