## 1 Introduction  
Energy storage devices such as lithium-ion batteries are found ubiquitously in the technologies that power society, including cell phones, smart devices, and electric vehicles. Advancements in battery technology are becoming increasingly vital for the future of transportation and renewable energy, as countries seek to reduce carbon emissions by electrifying transportation fleets and implementing grid-scale storage to facilitate greater dependence on intermittent renewables. The high energy density of lithium-ion batteries is the most important factor that makes them so widespread and the best-performing option currently available [1]. However, the safety of lithium-ion batteries is still a potential concern, particularly for large battery packs. Safety concerns regarding lithium-ion batteries, such as fire, explosion, and electrolyte leakage, stem from the flammability and volatility of the organic solvents in liquid electrolyte systems (which are often organic carbonate-based) in combination with oxide-based cathodes that release molecular oxygen at elevated temperatures [2, 3]. Consequently, future-generation electrolytes are being researched. Various types of solid and semi-solid electrolyte systems are seen as the next step for a safer technology; current systems in development include dry, gel, and composite polymer electrolytes, inorganic ceramic and glassy electrolytes, ionic liquid electrolytes, plastic crystal electrolytes, and organic liquid crystal electrolytes [4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 9; 10; 11; 12]. While inorganic solid electrolytes typically have higher conductivity (for practical use, the conductivity should be higher than \(10^{-4}\) S/cm at room temperature), disadvantages, including brittleness and high manufacturing cost, hinder their commercial application. In contrast, solid organic electrolytes have lower thermal stability than inorganic electrolytes, and are advantageous in terms of low density (less added mass), lower processing temperatures, and flexibility that renders greater durability to withstand the volume changes at the electrodes that occur during charge/discharge cycling. Poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and related polar polymers are a major focus for lithium-ion electrolytes, as the polar polymers bind with Li\({}^{+}\), enable the lithium salt dissociation, and facilitate the transport of Li\({}^{+}\) in the amorphous polymer matrix through segmental motion [4; 13]. However, since the Li\({}^{+}\) transport is coupled with the segmental motion of polymer chains, the typical conductivity of this class of polymer electrolyte is limited at room temperature [2]. Ionic liquid electrolytes are another safe option with the added advantage of improved electrolyte-electrode contact, but while ionic liquid lithium electrolytes have high total ionic conductivity, the contribution of the lithium cation to the total ionic conductivity (the lithium transference number) is low [12]. An ideal electrolyte has both high active ion conductivity and a high active ion transference number, approaching unity, without containing volatile organic components. Liquid crystalline molecules are another semi-solid materials group with high potential as safer Li-ion battery electrolytes. Amphiphilic molecules can lead to phase segregation and the spontaneous formation of ordered ionic phases with hexagonal, smectic, or gyroid morphology [10]. The ions may be present in the liquid crystal electrolyte as salts dissolved in the material or as an ionic liquid crystal (ILC) material with ligand-bound ionic groups [14]. The ion transport properties, chemical and electrochemical stability, and safety of liquid crystalline electrolytes are strong functions of their exact chemical composition [11; 15; 16; 17; 18]. Interestingly, recent literature suggests that the anisotropic ion transport in liquid crystalline electrolytes may even suppress lithium dendrite growth [19; 20].