Lithium Salt Catalyzed Ring-Opening Polymerized Solid-State Electrolyte with Comparable Ionic Conductivity and Better Interface Compatibility for Li-Ion Batteries

Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries have drawn extensive attention owing to increasing demands in applications from portable electronic devices to energy storage systems. In situ polymerization is considered one of the most promising approaches for enabling interfacial issues and improving compatibility between electrolytes and electrodes in batteries. Herein, we observed in situ thermally induced electrolytes based on an oxetane group with LiFSI as an initiator, and investigated structural characteristics, physicochemical properties, contacting interface, and electrochemical performances of as-prepared SPEs with a variety of technologies, such as FTIR, H-1-NMR, FE-SEM, EIS, LSV, and chronoamperometry. The as-prepared SPEs exhibited good thermal stability (stable up to 210 degrees C), lower activation energy, and high ionic conductivity (>0.1 mS/cm) at 30 degrees C. Specifically, SPE-2.5 displayed a comparable ionic conductivity (1.3 mS/cm at 80 degrees C), better interfacial compatibility, and a high Li-ion transference number. The SPE-2.5 electrolyte had comparable coulombic efficiency with a half-cell configuration at 0.1 C for 50 cycles. Obtained results could provide the possibility of high ionic conductivity and good compatibility through in situ polymerization for the development of Li-ion batteries.

Automated summary

This study demonstrates the use of in situ polymerization method to prepare a lithium-ion electrolyte material with excellent performance. The electrolyte exhibited good thermal stability, low activation energy, and high ionic conductivity. Specifically, the SPE-2.5 electrolyte showed good ionic conductivity, interfacial compatibility, and lithium-ion transference number at 80 degrees Celsius.