Although dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) solvent has been widely researched in rechargeable lithium-oxygen (Li-O-2) batteries, high polarization voltage and low rate capability limited its application. In this work, we reported a DMSO-based electrolyte system by adding N, N-dimethylacetamide (DMA) to adjust its physical and electrochemical properties. The ionic conductivity, viscosity, oxygen solubility and diffusion coefficient of the mixed electrolytes as well as their electrochemical performance in Li-O-2 batteries are researched. The electrochemical tests show that the optimized DMSO/DMA volume ratio is 30 to 70 based on the rate performance and polarization voltage of the cell. Compared with that of the pure DMSO-based electrolyte, the cell with the mixed electrolyte shows improved rate capability and reduced charge-discharge over-potential. When increasing current density from 0.2 to 0.5 mA cm(-2), the capability retention improves from 32% to 59%. Meanwhile, the charge-discharge voltage gap drops from 1.4V to 0.9V at a current density of 0.2 mA cm(-2). The improved electrochemical performance could be attributed to low viscosity, high oxygen solubility and diffusion coefficient as well as the low charge-transfer resistance with the mixed electrolyte. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.