Realizing a Wide-Temperature Aluminum-Foil-Anode-Based Lithium-Ion Battery

Aluminum (Al) foil is regarded as a promising anode for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) owing to its high theoretical capacity, low lithiation/delithiation potential, and natural abundance. However, Al-foil-based LIBs are currently confined to operate at room temperature, owing to the deterioration of solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) at high/low temperatures, which ultimately renders Al anode unable to endure significant volumetric changes during alloying/de-alloying under extreme temperatures. Herein, wide temperature (WT) cyclability of Al-based LIBs are realized for the first time by designing an Al-phobic SEI. A thin, robust Al-phobic LiF-rich SEI layer with high mechanical strength (1.08 GPa) is in situ constructed in all-fluorinated electrolyte featured with anion-dominated solvation structure. This Al-phobic interphase, which bonds weakly with the Al anode, is capable of accommodating volume expansion, mitigating the electrode pulverization, and reducing dead Li_xAl. Consequently, the Li||Al half-cells exhibit a high Coulombic efficiency of 99.6% at 25 °C and maintain operational stability over the temperature range of −20–60 °C. The Al||LiNi_0.8Mn_0.1Co_0.1O₂ full cells deliver considerable capacities of 165.4 mAh g⁻¹ at −20 °C and 223.2 mAh g⁻¹ at 60 °C (based on cathode). This work represents a critical step of Al-based LIBs for WT applications.