Ultrathin, dense, hybrid polymer/ceramic gel electrolyte for high energy lithium metal batteries

To realize energy densities in comparison to organic-liquid-electrolyte-level batteries, ultrathin gel polymer electrolytes (GPEs) with wide potential window and good mechanical properties are desired. However, GPEs with comparable thicknesses to commercial polymer separators (<10 mu m) remain challenging to synthesize because their porous configurations reduce the mechanical properties and increase the risk of short circuiting. Here, we report an ultrathin 7.3-mu m-thick polymer/ceramic electrolyte membrane fabricated by hybridizing poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) with garnet Li(6.5)Mg(0.0)5La(3)Zr(1.6)Ta(0.4)O(12) (LLZTO), demonstrated with a dense configuration. In comparison with the porous PVDF-HFP membrane, the hybrid PVDF-HFP/LLZTO membrane not only exhibits robust mechanical strength (23.94 MPa versus 1.43 MPa), high Young's modulus (557.95 MPa versus 13.43 MPa), wide potential window (6.0 V versus 5.5 V), but also prevents lithium dendrites (0.5 mA cm (2) versus < 0. 1 mA cm (2)). (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.