Organic cyclic carbonate additives for nonaqueous electrolyte in alkali metal electrochemical cells

1. An electrochemical cell comprising an alkali metal anode; a cathode; and an electrolyte operatively associated with the anode and the cathode, the improvement in the cell comprising:

a) a cyclic carbonate additive dissolved in the electrolyte and having the formula:

b) wherein at least one of the R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 groups contains an sp 2 or sp hybridized carbon or nitrogen atom connected directly to the ring carbon atom.

2. The electrochemical cell of claim 1 wherein n≧1.

3. The electrochemical cell of claim 1 wherein R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , R 5 , R 6 are the same or different and they are selected from the group consisting of a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group of 1 to 12 carbon atoms, an alkenyl group of 2 to 13 carbon atoms, an alkynyl group of 2 to 12 carbon atoms, an aryl group of 6 to 12 carbon atoms, an aralkyl group of 7 to 13 carbon atoms, a nitro group, and a cyano group provided that not all of them are a hydrogen atom.

4. The electrochemical cell of claim 1 wherein the cyclic carbonate additive is selected from the group consisting of 4,6-diphenyl-1,3-dioxan-2-one, 4-phenyl -6-methyl-1,3-dioxan-2-one, 4,6-diacetonitrile-1,3-dioxan-2-one, 4-acetonitrile-6-methyl-1,3-dioxan-2-one, 4,6-vinyl-1,3-dioxan -2-one, 4-vinyl-6-methyl-1,3-dioxan-2-one, 4,6-dipropyne-1,3-dioxan-2-one, 4-propyne-6-methyl-1,3-dioxan-2-one, and mixtures thereof.

5. The electrochemical cell of claim 1 wherein the cyclic carbonate additive is present in the electrolyte in a range of about 0.001M to about 0.20M.

6. The electrochemical cell of claim 1 wherein the, cathode active oxide is selected from the group consisting of silver vanadium oxide, copper silver vanadium oxide, manganese dioxide, cobalt oxide, nickel oxide, copper vanadium oxide, titanium disulfide, copper oxide, copper sulfide, iron sulfide, iron disulfide, LiNiO 2 , LiMn 2 O 4 , LiCoO 2 , LiCo 0.92 Sn 0.08 O 2 , LiCo 1-x Ni x O 2 , and mixtures thereof.

7. The electrochemical cell of claim 1 wherein the electrolyte comprises a solvent selected from the group consisting of tetrahydrofuran, diisopropylether, methyl acetate, diglyme, triglyme, tetraglyme, 1,2-dimethoxyethane, 1,2-diethoxyethane, 1-ethoxy,2-methoxyethane, dimethyl carbonate, diethyl carbonate, dipropyl carbonate, ethyl methyl carbonate, methyl propyl carbonate, ethyl propyl carbonate, propylene carbonate, ethylene carbonate, butylene carbonate, acetonitrile, dimethyl sulfoxide, dimethyl formamide, dimethyl acetamide, γ-valerolactone, γ-butyrolactone, N-methyl-pyrrolidone, and mixtures thereof.

8. The electrochemical cell of claim 1 wherein the electrolyte includes a salt selected from the group consisting of LiPF 6 , LiBF 4 , LiAsF 6 , LiSbF 6 , LiClO4, LiAlCl 4 , LiGaCl 4 , LiC(SO 2 CF 3 ) 3 , LiN(SO 2 CF 3 ) 2 , LiSCN, LiO 3 SCF 2 CF 3 , LiC 6 F 5 SO 3 , LiO 2 CCF 3 , LiSO 3 F, LiNO 3 , LiB(C 5 H 5 ) 4 , LiCF 3 SO 3 , and mixtures thereof.

9. The electrochemical cell of claim 1 of a primary chemistry comprising a lithium anode, a silver vanadium oxide cathode and an electrolyte of 1.0M to 1.4M LiAsF 6 or LiPF 6 dissolved in propylene carbonate and 1,2-dimethoxyethane.

10. The electrochemical cell of claim 1 of a secondary chemistry having graphite as an anode material, LiCoO 2 as a cathode active material and an activating electrolyte of ethylene carbonate, dimethyl carbonate, ethyl methyl carbonate and diethyl carbonate.

11. An electrochemical cell, which comprises:

a) a lithium anode;

b) a cathode of silver vanadium oxide; and

c) an activating electrolyte comprising a cyclic carbonate having the formula:

d) wherein at least one of the R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 groups contains an sp 2 or sp hybridized carbon or nitrogen atom connected directly to the ring carbon atom.

12. The electrochemical cell of claim 11 wherein n≧1.

13. The electrochemical cell of claim 11 wherein R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , R 5 , R 6 are the same or different and they are selected from the group consisting of a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group of 1 to 12 carbon atoms, an alkenyl group of 2 to 13 carbon atoms, an alkynyl group of 2 to 12 carbon atoms, an aryl group of to 12 carbon atoms, an aralkyl group of 7 to 13 carbon atoms, a nitro group, and a cyano group provided that not all of them are a hydrogen atom.

14. A method for providing an electrochemical cell, comprising the steps of:

a) providing a casing;

b) housing an anode of lithium inside the casing;

c) providing a cathode of a cathode active material inside the casing; and

d) activating the anode and the cathode with an electrolyte having a cyclic carbonate dissolved therein, the cyclic carbonate having the formula:

e) wherein at least one of the R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 groups contains an sp 2 or sp hybridized carbon or nitrogen atom connected directly to the ring carbon atom.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein n≧1.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , R 5 , R 6 are the same or different and they are selected from the group consisting of a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group of 1 to 12 carbon atoms, an alkenyl group of 2 to 13 carbon atoms, an alkynyl group of 2 to 12 carbon atoms, an aryl group of 6 to 12 carbon atoms, an aralkyl group of 7 to 13 carbon atoms, a nitro group, and a cyano group provided that not all of them are a hydrogen atom.

17. The method of claim 14 including selecting the cyclic carbonate from the group consisting of 4,6-diphenyl-1,3-dioxan-2-one, 4-phenyl-6-methyl-1,3-dioxan -2-one, 4,6-diacetonitrile-1,3-dioxan-2-one, 4-acetonitrile-6-methyl-1,3-dioxan-2-one, 4,6-divinyl-1,3-dioxan-2-one, 4-vinyl-6-methyl-1,3-dioxan-2-one, 4,6-dipropyne-1,3-dioxan-2-one, 4-propyne-6-methyl-1,3-dioxan-2-one, and mixtures thereof.