Heterogeneous Nanodomain Electrolytes for Ultra-Long-Life All-Solid-State Lithium-Metal Batteries

Solid polymer electrolytes exhibit huge advantages but are hindered by insufficient mechanical strength and ionic conductivity in the applications of all-solid-state lithium-metal batteries (ASSLBs). Herein, poly(ether-block-amide) (Pebax) strategies to construct heterogeneous nanodomain electrolytes (HNEs) for ultra-long-life ASSLBs are introduced. Pebax HNEs forms conductive nanodomains via phase separation, exhibiting interconnected and high Li+ conductive features. Compared with conventional PEO-based electrolytes, the Pebax HNEs with controllable size and order can facilitate rapid Li+ transport with steerable transport channels, further enhancing the Li+ conductivity and inducing the uniform Li+ deposition. Furthermore, the obtained thin and dense hybrid SEI layer with potent mechanical strength can synergistically suppress the dendrite growth, and the as-prepared ASSLBs exhibit a satisfactory capacity with a tiny capacity reduction of 0.013% per cycle over 1500 cycles. This work provides a brand-new insight to construct a conductive structure in electrolytes for high-performance ASSLBs.

Automated summary

This paper introduces a method using Pebax strategy to construct heterogeneous nanodomain electrolytes, which improves the insufficient mechanical strength and ionic conductivity of solid polymer electrolytes in all-solid-state lithium-metal batteries. Compared with conventional electrolytes, Pebax HNEs exhibit better lithium ion transport and deposition performance, as well as the ability to suppress dendrite growth.