Ion-compensation regime between electrolyte and cathode to prepare advanced lithium metal batteries

To improve the ion conduction ability and interfacial issues between electrolyte and electrode and provide a high safety and long lifespan for polymer electrolyte-based lithium metal batteries, gel polymer electrolytes with excellent thermal and electrochemical stability are prepared via polyacrylic salt -catalyzed radical polymerization. The gradient design of polyacrylic complex impels the in-situ formation of gel polymer electrolytes, robust solid electrolyte interphase and cathode electrolyte interface layer, delivering an excellent lithium platting-stripping property (1000 h, 0.1 mA cm(-2)) and a long-term cycling with 80.1% capacity retention (600 cycles, 1C) for the as-assembled lithium symmetric and Li/LiFePO4 cells, respectively. Moreover, the manual ion-compensation between the bulk electrolyte and the cathode enhances the diffusion of lithium ion with a high diffusion coefficient of 3.47 x 10(-13) cm(2) s(-1), and slows down the capacity decay with a high discharge capacity of 121.0 mA h/g at 5C. This method provides a direction for improving the electrolyte-electrode compatibility and designing advanced lithium metal batteries. (C) 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

By using a gradient design of polymer electrolyte with polyacrylic salt-catalyzed radical polymerization, gel polymer electrolytes with excellent thermal and electrochemical stability are prepared to improve the ion conduction ability and interfacial issues between electrolyte and electrode in polymer electrolyte-based lithium metal batteries. The resulting gel polymer electrolytes show high performance in lithium plating-stripping property and long-term cycling stability, and the manual ion-compensation between the bulk electrolyte and the cathode enhances the diffusion of lithium ions and slows down the capacity decay, providing a direction for improving the electrolyte-electrode compatibility and designing advanced lithium metal batteries.