Electrospun poly(ethylene oxide) nanofibrous composites with enhanced ionic conductivity as flexible solid polymer electrolytes

Solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) have great potential to address the safety issues of lithium (Li)-ion batteries when compared with conventional liquid electrolytes, which makes them a promising alternative for next-generation high-energy batteries. In this work, poly(ethylene oxide)-lithium perchlorate (PEO–LiClO 4 ) polymer electrolytes for Li-ion batteries were prepared using electrospinning. The crystallinity, ionic conductivity as well as mechanical properties were investigated. Ionic conductivities and mechanical properties of PEO–LiClO 4 based SPE have been obviously increased by incorporating modified TiO 2 nanofibres (TNFs) than TiO 2 nanoparticles (TNPs), due to that both TNFs and TNPs can decrease the crystalline phase concentration of PEO and increase segmental flexibility of PEO. The SPE with 3 wt% TNFs exhibits the highest conductivity of 5.308 × 10 −5 S cm −1 at 20°C and higher tensile strength of 13.8 MPa. These results highlight the potential of utilising the electrospinning method to improve the ionic conductivity of SPEs.