Applications of liquid crystal in lithium battery electrolytes

Lithium-ion Batteries (LIBs), as one of the most efficient energy conversion and storage system, have been widely used in various applications. Their excellent performance has enabled them to rapidly develop and capture the market for small portable electronic devices, and they are expected to become one of the main energy sources for electric vehicles. However, unsafe factors such as flammability, explosiveness, and leakage of traditional liquid electrolytes have limited their applications. Solid/semi-solid electrolytes have been widely investigated for replacing liquid electrolytes due to their reliable safety performance. Liquid crystals, as a functional material, have been used as a new electrolyte for lithium-ion batteries with broad development prospects due to their unique self-assembly properties, anchoring energy on the surface of lithium electrodes, and the polymerisable properties of certain monomers. However, there are fewer reports summarising and analysing liquid crystal electrolytes at home and abroad. Therefore, this paper reviews the latest progress of research and development on liquid crystal electrolytes in recent years. The composition, design principles, and structure and performance of the electrolyte are described in detail, and the role of liquid crystals is also analyzed. Finally, this paper proposes feasible approaches to improve the performance of liquid crystal electrolytes and discusses their possible future research directions and major challenges.