China boosts lithium battery life, efficiency using boron additives

Chinese scientists from Nankai University have developed boron-containing electrolyte additives to address key challenges in lithium metal batteries (LMBs), such as lithium dendrite formation, short cycle life, and low Coulombic efficiency. Lithium metal batteries offer high energy density (over 500 Wh/kg), but their practical use is hindered by these issues. The research highlights that optimizing electrolyte formulations with boron additives is a cost-effective strategy to improve battery performance. Boron additives help dissolve Li2O and LiF deposits, reducing interfacial charge transfer resistance and enhancing lithium-ion diffusion, which improves discharge capacity and rate performance. The team designed and tested four boron additives, focusing on their electron-deficient properties and electrostatic potential (ESP) to identify the most effective compounds. Tris(hexafluoroisopropyl) borate (THFPB) showed the highest ESP, indicating strong anion attraction and promising electrolyte additive characteristics. The oxidative decomposition of boron additives at the cath