Bo Chen,Qiang Xu,Zhen Huang,Yanran Zhao,Shaojie Chen,Xiaoxiong Xu
A new class of copolymer electrolytes with tunable network structure is successfully designed and prepared via a facile one-pot reaction. The trimethylolpropane triglycidyl ether (TMPEG) is cross-linked with poly (ethylene glycol) diamine (NPEG) to create well-defined solid network polymer electrolyte (SNPE). The network structure could be tuned by changing the molar ratio of TMPEG and NPEG or the molecular weight of NPEG. The effects of molecular weight of NPEG and molar ratio of EO/Li + on the ionic conductivity are systematically investigated. The optimal electrolyte TMPEG-NPEG4K[2:1]-16:1 presents a maximum conductivity of 1.10 × 10 −4 S cm −1 under 30 °C, and an 18-fold ionic conductivity enhancement in that of PEO-based electrolyte. Furthermore, it also exhibits wide electrochemical window (0–5.4 V), excellent compatibility with metallic Li, and superior mechanical properties. The all-solid-state lithium batteries LiFePO 4 /Li are assembled with TMPEG-NPEG4K[2:1]-16:1 electrolyte, and present good cycling and rate performance under 60 °C. The initial discharge specific capacities of the batteries are 161.7 mAh g −1 at 0.2 C and 132.7 mAh g −1 at 1 C, and the capacity retention ratio can be retained at 90.6% and 90.5% after 100 cycles. This new copolymer electrolyte may become a promising candidate for applications in all-solid-state lithium battery.
A novel single-ion conducting polymer electrolyte (SIPE) membrane with high lithium-ion transference number, good mechanical strength, and excellent ionic conductivity is designed and synthesized by facile coupling of lithium bis(allylmalonato) borate (LiBAMB), pentaerythritol tetrakis (2-mercaptoacetate) (PETMP) and 3,6-dioxa-1,8-octanedithiol (DODT) in an electrospun poly(vinylidienefluoride) (PVDF) supporting membrane via a one-step photoinitiated in situ thiol–ene click reaction. The structure-optimized LiBAMB-PETMP-DODT (LPD)@PVDF SIPE shows an outstanding ionic conductivity of 1.32 × 10 −3 S cm −1 at 25 °C, together with a high lithium-ion transference number of 0.92 and wide electrochemical window up to 6.0 V. The SIPE exhibits high tensile strength of 7.2 MPa and elongation at break of 269%. Due to these superior performances, the SIPE can suppress lithium dendrite growth, which is confirmed by galvanostatic Li plating/stripping cycling test and analysis of morphology of Li metal electrode surface after cycling test. Li|LPD@PVDF|Li symmetric cell maintains an extremely stable and low overpotential without short circuiting over the 1050 h cycle. The Li|LPD@PVDF|LiFePO 4 cell shows excellent rate capacity and outstanding cycle performance compared to cells based on a conventional liquid electrolyte (LE) with Celgard separator. The facile approach of the SIPE provides an effective and promising electrolyte for safe, long-life, and high-rate lithium metal batteries.