Rational design of electrolyte components by ab initio calculations

This paper is a small review of the use of computer simulations and especially the use of standard quantum-mechanical ab initio electronic structure calculations to rationally design and investigate different choices of chemicals/systems for lithium battery electrolytes. Covered systems and strategies to enhance the performance of electrolytes will range from assisting the interpretation of vibrational spectroscopy experiments over development of potentials for molecular dynamics simulations, to the design of new lithium salts and the lithium ion coordination in liquid, polymer, and gel polymer electrolytes. Examples of studied properties include the vibrational spectra of anions and ion pairs to characterize the nature and extent of the interactions present, the lithium ion affinities of anions, important for the salt solvation and the ability to provide a high concentration of charge carriers, the HOMO energies of the anions to estimate the stability versus oxidation, the anion volumes that correlate to the anion mobility, the lithium ion coordination and dynamics to reveal the limiting steps of lithium ion transport, etc.