Revealing Surfactant Effect of Trifluoromethylbenzene in Medium‐Concentrated PC Electrolyte for Advanced Lithium‐Ion Batteries

Despite wide-temperature tolerance and high-voltage compatibility, employing propylene carbonate (PC) as electrolyte in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is hampered by solvent co-intercalation and graphite exfoliation due to incompetent solvent-derived solid electrolyte interphase (SEI). Herein, trifluoromethylbenzene (PhCF₃ ), featuring both specific adsorption and anion attraction, is utilized to regulate the interfacial behaviors and construct anion-induced SEI at low Li salts' concentration (<1 m). The adsorbed PhCF₃ , showing surfactant effect on graphite surface, induces preferential accumulation and facilitated decomposition of bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide anions (FSI⁻ ) based on the adsorption-attraction-reduction mechanism. As a result, PhCF₃ successfully ameliorates graphite exfoliation-induced cell failure in PC-based electrolyte and enables the practical operation of NCM613/graphite pouch cell with high reversibility at 4.35 V (96% capacity retention over 300 cycles at 0.5 C). This work constructs stable anion-derived SEI at low concentration of Li salt by regulating anions-co-solvents interaction and electrode/electrolyte interfacial chemistries.