Designing Advanced Lithium-Based Batteries for Low-Temperature Conditions

Energy-dense rechargeable batteries have enabled a multitude of applications in recent years. Moving forward, they are expected to see increasing deployment in performance-critical areas such as electric vehicles, grid storage, space, defense, and subsea operations. While this at first glance spells great promise for conventional lithium-ion batteries, all of these use-cases, unfortunately, share periodic and recurring exposures to extremely low-temperature conditions, a performance constraint where the lithium-ion chemistry can fail to perform optimally. Next-generation chemistries employing alternative anodes with increased solvent compatibility or altogether different operating mechanisms could present an avenue for overcoming many of the low-temperature hurdles intrinsic to the lithium-ion battery. In this article, a brief overview of the challenges in developing lithium-ion batteries for low-temperature use is provided, and then an array of nascent battery chemistries are introduced that may be intrinsically better suited for low-temperature conditions moving forward. Specifically, the prospects of using lithium-metal, lithium-sulfur, and dual-ion batteries for performance-critical low-temperature applications are evaluated. These three chemistries are presented as prototypical examples of how the conventional low-temperature charge-transfer resistances can be overcome. However, these three chemistries also present their own unique challenges at low temperatures, highlighting the balance between traditional low-temperature electrolyte design and next-generation approaches.