Solid polymer electrolytes based on crosslinkable polyoctahedral silsesquioxanes (POSS) for room temperature lithium polymer batteries

Solid polymer electrolytes (SPE), based on polyoctahedral silsesquioxanes (POSS) as a crosslinking agent, were prepared by radical polymerization. The ionic conductivity is greatly enhanced by introduction of crosslinkable POSS with multifunctional groups. The SPE prepared with 5 wt.% crosslinking agent shows an ionic conductivity of 5.3 x 10(-4) S cm(-1) at room temperature. The content of nonvolatile plasticizer, poly(ethylene glycol) dimethyl ether, in the SPE, could be raised to 95 wt.% without any leakage. The SPE is found to be electrochemically stable up to 5.3 V. Lithium polymer cell consisting of Li/SPE/LiCoO2 exhibits 80% of initial discharge capacity even at the rate of 0.1 C at room temperature after 20 cycles, which is a substantial improvement for practical consideration of lithium polymer batteries at room temperature.