Application of Ionic Liquids in Rechargeable Li-Ion Batteries: A Comprehensive Guide to Design, Synthesis and Computational Aspects

The breathtaking pace of the development of smart and wearable gadgets, electric vehicles and many other ultraportable devices has ushered into the era of rapid development of rechargeable batteries with enhanced safety, high-performance, high gravimetric and volumetric energy density. New battery chemistries are being constantly explored to identify better electrolytes that are environmental-friendly, nonflammable, reusable and most importantly ultra-customizable for high-performance applications. Ionic liquid, by virtue of its unique set of tunable properties, is a natural choice from both academic and industrial perspectives. A general guiding principle of ionic liquid synthesis proceeds via an appropriate selection of precursors from the ionic liquid toolbox and reaction with the alkyl halide followed by the metathesis or simple acid-base reaction yielding the final ionic liquid. This study is a complete and extensive treatise on the usage of the ionic liquids in the electrolytes of secondary batteries concerning (i) the design philosophy, (ii) synthesis, (iii) characterization, (iv) new chemistry and electrode material development (v) cell performance, (vi) cell safety, and (vii) comprehensive computational protocols encompassing all the aspects of the electrolyte and electrode-electrolyte interactions.