Our study shows that 3, 3'-sulfonyldipropionitrile (SDPN), as an electrolyte additive, can dramatically enhance the performance of LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2/graphite lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) at high voltages (3.0-4.6 V vs. Li/Li+). After adding 0.2 wt% SDPN to the electrolytes; i.-e., 1.0 M LiPF6-EC/DMC/EMC, the capacity for the LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2/graphite cell to retain power was significantly increased from 59.5% to 77.3% after only 100 cycles, which shows the promising application of SDPN at higher voltages. Density functional theory calculation results indicate that SDPN had reduced oxidative constancy compared to ethylene carbonate (EC), dimethyl carbonate (DMC) and ethyl methyl carbonate (EMC). The effects of SDPN on cell performance are characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The testing results indicate that the improvement in cycling activity could be ascribed to the thinner cathode electrolyte interface film originated from SDPN on the LIB using LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2, which reduced the interfacial resistance at a high voltage, but also protected the decomposition of electrolytes and suppressed transition metal dissolution. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.