Chemical Instability of Dimethyl Sulfoxide in Lithium-Air Batteries

Although dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) has emerged as a promising solvent for Li-air batteries, enabling reversible oxygen reduction and evolution (2Li + O2 ⇔ Li2O2), DMSO is well known to react with superoxide-like species, which are intermediates in the Li-O2 reaction, and LiOH has been detected upon discharge in addition to Li2O2. Here we show that toroidal Li2O2 particles formed upon discharge gradually convert into flake-like LiOH particles upon prolonged exposure to a DMSO-based electrolyte, and the amount of LiOH detectable increases with increasing rest time in the electrolyte. Such time-dependent electrode changes upon and after discharge are not typically monitored and can explain vastly different amounts of Li2O2 and LiOH reported in oxygen cathodes discharged in DMSO-based electrolytes. The formation of LiOH is attributable to the chemical reactivity of DMSO with Li2O2 and superoxide-like species, which is supported by our findings that commercial Li2O2 powder can decompose DMSO to DMSO2, and that the presence of KO2 accelerates both DMSO decomposition and conversion of Li2O2 into LiOH.