China's new lithium battery chemistry offers higher energy density

Chinese researchers from Nankai University and the Shanghai Institute of Space Power Sources have developed a novel lithium battery chemistry featuring a fluorinated hydrocarbon electrolyte that significantly enhances energy density. By redesigning the electrolyte to use fluorinated solvents instead of conventional carbonate-based ones, they altered lithium salt dissolution and ion interactions at the molecular level. This innovation reduced lithium–fluorine interaction strength, improving ion mobility and enabling the battery to achieve an ultra-high specific energy of about 700 watt-hours per kilogram at room temperature, and maintain approximately 400 Wh/kg even at extremely low temperatures around −50°C. This performance notably surpasses current commercial lithium batteries, which typically offer around 250–255 Wh/kg at the pack level. The research, published in Nature, involved synthesizing alkanes with monofluorinated structures, such as 1,3-difluoro-propane (DFP), which provided low viscosity, high oxidation stability, and effective salt dissolution. While this breakthrough represents a