Improving the Safety of Lithium-Ion Battery via a Redox Shuttle Additive 2,5-Di- tert-butyl-1,4-bis(2-methoxyethoxy)benzene (DBBB)

Abstract

2,5-Di- tert-butyl-1,4-bis(2-methoxyethoxy)benzene (DBBB) is studied as a redox shuttle additive for overcharge protection for a 1.5 Ah graphite/C-LFP lithium-ion pouch cell for the first time. The electrochemical performance demonstrated that the protecting additive remains inert during the extended standard cycling for 4000 cycles. When a 100% overcharge is introduced in the charging protocol, the baseline cell fails rapidly during the first abusive event, whereas the cell containing DBBB additive withstands 700 overcharge cycles with 87% capacity retention and no gas evolution or cell swelling was observed. It is the first time the effectiveness of the DBBB as overcharge protection additive in a large pouch cell format is demonstrated.

Keywords: lithium-ion batteries; overcharge protection; pouch cell; redox shuttle additives; safety.