2026-09-29 2026, Volume 6 Issue 10

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    Shouxun Peng, Qing Yin, Bin Zhang, Zeyu Zhao, Meiyu Shi, Xiwen Li, Zheng Li, Bin Xiao, Xiuquan Gu, Mingjia Zhi, Eugene Chubenko, Vitaly Bondarenko, Hanna Bandarenka, Yang Pan, Shan Hua, Yanwei Sui

    Low-temperature operation remains a critical bottleneck for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), since the coupled limitations in Li+ transport, desolvation and interfacial stability severely undermine energy delivery and long-term cyclability. Here, rather than merely relying on low-freezing-point solvents to improve electrolyte fluidity, we design a lithium difluoro(oxalato)borate (LiDFOB)-based electrolyte combining fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC), dimethyl sulfite (DMS) and 1,1,2,2-Tetrafluoroethyl-2,2,2-trifluoroethyl ether (HFE) to simultaneously regulate the solvation structure and interfacial reactions under subzero conditions. Molecular dynamics simulations reveal that the LiDFOB + DMS/HFE/FEC electrolyte reconstructs the Li+ solvation sheath from solvent-dominated coordination in LiPF6 + ethylene carbonate/dimethyl carbonate to an anion-dominated, aggregate-rich structure. Sputtering-time-dependent X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy reveals a compositionally graded graphite solid electrolyte interphase in which LiF remains the predominant fluorine-containing species and the relative contribution of Li-O-containing species increases with continued sputtering, while total-ion-normalized time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry provides complementary semiquantitative trends for selected interphase fragments. A compositionally differentiated hybrid cathode interphase containing borate-related components and reduced organic accumulation is also observed on LiCoO2. As a result, LiCoO2||Li cells using the LiDFOB-based electrolyte retain 93.77% of the initial discharge capacity after 500 cycles at 1.0 C and 25 °C. Even at -20 °C, they deliver 139.6 mAh g-1 and retain 132.8 mAh g-1 after 500 cycles at 0.2 C, corresponding to 95.1% retention. Meanwhile, LiCoO2||graphite full cells also exhibit markedly improved cycling stability at -20 °C, delivering 116.8 mAh g-1 after 400 cycles at 0.2 C. Rather than optimizing solvation structure or interphase chemistry in isolation, this work links anion-involved Li+ coordination to depth-dependent interfacial evolution and identifies solvation-to-interphase coupling as a practical design principle for extending the cycling life of low-temperature LIBs.