Fabrication and evaluation of a polymer Li-ion battery with microporous gel electrolyte

This paper introduces an easy method for the fabrication of polymer Li-ion batteries with microporous gel electrolyte ( MGE). The MGE is a multiphase electrolyte, which is composed of liquid electrolyte, gel electrolyte, and polymer matrix. The MGE not only has high ionic conductivity and good adhesion to the electrodes at low temperatures, but also retains good mechanical strength at elevated temperatures. Therefore, the MGE batteries are able to operate over a wide temperature range. During battery fabrication, the MGE is formed in situ by introducing liquid electrolyte into a swellable microporous polymer membrane and then heating or cycling the battery. In this work, the chemical compatibility of MGE with metal lithium during 60degreesC storage and with LiMn2O4 cathode during cycling was studied. In addition, graphite/MGE/LiMn2O4 Li-ion batteries were made and evaluated.