The electrolyte compositions may be used in electrochemical cells, preferred they are used in a lithium battery, a double layer capacitor, or a lithium ion capacitor, more preferred they are used in lithium batteries, even more preferred in secondary lithium cells and most preferred in secondary lithium ion batteries.

The invention further provides an electrochemical cell comprising the electrolyte composition as described above or as described as being preferred.

The electrochemical cell may be a lithium battery, a double layer capacitor, or a lithium ion capacitor.

The general construction of such electrochemical cell is known and is familiar to the person skilled in this art—for batteries, for example, in Linden's Handbook of Batteries (ISBN 978-0-07-162421-3).

Preferably the electrochemical cell is a lithium battery. The term “l(fā)ithium battery” as used herein means an electrochemical cell, wherein the anode comprises lithium metal or lithium ions sometime during the charge/discharge of the cell. The anode may comprise lithium metal or a lithium metal alloy, a material occluding and releasing lithium ions, or other lithium containing compounds; e.g. the lithium battery may be a lithium ion battery, a lithium/sulphur battery, or a lithium/selenium sulphur battery.

In particular preferred the electrochemical device is a lithium ion battery, i.e. a secondary lithium ion electrochemical cell comprising a cathode comprising a cathode active material that can reversibly occlude and release lithium ions and an anode comprising an anode active material that can reversibly occlude and release lithium ions. The terms “secondary lithium ion electrochemical cell” and “(secondary) lithium ion battery” are used interchangeably within the present invention.