A Biobased Composite Gel Polymer Electrolyte with Functions of Lithium Dendrites Suppressing and Manganese Ions Trapping

Lithium (Li) dendrites in Li anodes, and dissolution and migration of manganese (Mn) ions in LiMn2O4 (LMO) cathodes, have hampered these extraordinary electrode materials from being efficiently applied in high performance Li batteries. Here, a novel, bifunctional, biobased composite gel polymer electrolyte (c-GPE) is created to simultaneously deal with the two critical issues. The skeleton of c-GPE is constructed from a sandwich structure composed of porous polydopamine spheres and two layers of the environmentally friendly soy protein isolate-based nanofiber membranes, and the carbonized polydopamine spheres are coated without any binder on the surface of the membranes. After a facile and innocuous preparation process, the skeleton material displays excellent thermal stability and good affinity to liquid electrolyte, which endows c-GPE with significant functions of effective mitigation of the dissolution of Mn ions, and chelation of the fleeing Mn ions, as well as the dramatic suppression of Li dendrite growth. Consequently, the LMO/Li batteries involving c-GPE show a great improvement in the cycling stability and rate performance compared with those of the cells based on commercial Celgard 2400. This work will be quite promising to meet the distinct requirements from Li batteries and provide a high-efficiency and safe biobased GPE for next generation energy storage systems.