Unraveling the solvent stability on the cathode surface of Li-O batteries by using vibrational spectroscopies.

In aprotic lithium-oxygen (Li-O) batteries, solvent properties are crucial in the charge/discharge processes. Therefore, a thorough understanding of the solvent stability at the cathode surface during the oxygen reduction/evolution reactions (ORR/OER) is essential for the rational design of high-performance electrolytes. In this study, the stability of typical solvents, a series of glyme solvents with different chain lengths, has been investigated during the ORR/OER by vibrational spectroscopy measurements of sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy and infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (IRRAS).