Dissolutions of the polymer in the chaotropic salts follow Hofmeister effect, and the aggregate of salts and solvents shows new influence of the Hofmeister effect. Here, we reveal the aggregation of ion–solvent in chaotropic salt solution catalyzes the formation of the exposed Lewis acid-base center and realizes the dissolution of polyamide (PA) macromolecules. The relationship between Hofmeister effect, aggregate chemistry and Lewis acid-base chemistry is examined from new perspective. And then, a new solvent system and phase conversion process are designed for polyamides. Finally, the applications of PA in ZIBs as coating layer and binder are realized. As an electrode coating, it can effectively inhibit hydrogen evolution, corrosion and dendrite problems and improve the cycle life (cycle over 1500 h at 0.5 mA cm −2 ). As a binder, the active material adhesion on current collector, uniformity and wettability of the electrode are improved. The assembled pouch-cell with PANI cathode shows a capacity of 150 mAh g −1 after 120 cycles. This work reveals the secret of controlled phase transformation of polyamide in saline solution from a new perspective. And this phase conversion method is simpler, greener and more environmentally friendly, which greatly accelerates the application of polyamide in the field of membrane science and binder science.
Xueting Yang,Haoyu Deng,Jie Xu,Dezhan Ye,Xiancai Jiang,Yazhou Chen,Ke Sun,Zengjin Liu
1,3-dioxolane (DOL) shows low interfacial impedance and high Coulombic efficiency, thus its polymer electrolytes have attracted extensive attention. In order to initiate DOL polymerization, catalyst amount of LiPF 6 is usually used rather than as the main lithium salt . Totally replacement of LiTFSI with low cost of LiPF 6 could bring the heat explosion and high viscosity when mixing DOL with 0.9 M LiPF 6 electrolyte (carbonate ester solvent). Here, based on the Lewis acid-base interaction, a new type of Lewis base, pyridine, is added to control the explosive polymerization of 1,3-dioxolane in LiPF 6 electrolyte. Through tuning the pyridine content, the gelling process and electrochemical properties could be controlled. It is demonstrated that the optimized monomer conversion and electrochemical window are up to 85.2 % and 4.6 V; meanwhile, the optimized conductivity and transfer number are 0.99 × 10 −3 S/cm (25 °C) and 0.68, respectively. The stable interface between PDOL and lithium metal anode could be proved by the stable over-potential (50mv, 700 h) at current density of 0.5 mA cm −2 . After 500 cycles at 2C, the assembled Li/PDOL@py 0.125 /LiFePO 4 battery delivers 115 mAh/g and 90 % capacity retention, with high average Coulombic efficiency of 99.83 %. The present results demonstrate the heat suppression role of pyridine toward mixing DOL with 0.9 M LiPF 6 electrolyte, which solves the heat and viscosity problems for PDOL based gelling polymer electrolytes .