Boosting lithium batteries under harsh operating conditions by a resilient ionogel with liquid-like ionic conductivity

New chemistries are being developed to increase the capacity and power of rechargeable batteries. However, the risk of safety issues increases when high-energy batteries using highly active materials encounter harsh operating conditions. Here we report on the synthesis of a unique ionogel electrolyte for abuse-tolerant lithium batteries. A hierarchically architected silica/polymer scaffold is designed and fabricated through a facile soft chemistry route, which is competent to confine ionic liquids with superior uptake ability (92.4 wt%). The monolithic ionogel exhibits high conductivity and thermal/mechanical stability, featuring high-temperature elastic modulus and dendrite-free lithium cycling. The Li/LiFePO_(4) pouch cells achieve outstanding cyclability at different temperatures up to 150 ℃, and can sustain cutting, crumpling, and even coupled thermal–mechanical abuses. Moreover, the solid-state lithium batteries with LiNi_(0.60)Co_(0.20)Mn_(0.20)O_(2), LiNi_(0.80)Co_(0.15)Al_(0.05)O_(2), and Li_(1.2)Mn_(0.54)Ni_(0.13)Co_(0.13)O_(2) cathodes demonstrate excellent cycle performances at 60 ℃. These results indicate that the resilient and high-conductivity ionogel electrolyte is promising to realize high-performance lithium batteries with high energy density and safety.