Synergetic Control of Li^(+)Transport Ability and Solid Electrolyte Interphase by Boron-Rich Hexagonal Skeleton Structured All-Solid-State Polymer Electrolyte

High Li^(+)transference number electrolytes have long been understood to provide attractive candidates for realizing uniform deposition of Li^(+).However,such electrolytes with immobilized anions would result in incomplete solid electrolyte interphase(SEI)formation on the Li anode because it suffers from the absence of appropriate inorganic components entirely derived from anions decomposition.Herein,a boron-rich hexagonal polymer structured all-solid-state polymer electrolyte(BSPE+10%LiBOB)with regulated intermolecular interaction is proposed to trade off a high Li^(+)transference number against stable SEI properties.The Li^(+)transference number of the as-prepared electrolyte is increased from 0.23 to 0.83 owing to the boron-rich cross-linker(BC)addition.More intriguingly,for the first time,the experiments combined with theoretical calculation results reveal that BOB^(-)anions have stronger interaction with B atoms in polymer chain than TFSI^(-),which significantly induce the TFSI^(-)decomposition and consequently increase the amount of LiF and Li3N in the SEI layer.Eventually,a LiFePO_(4)|BSPE+10%LiBOBlLi cell retains 96.7%after 400 cycles while the cell without BC-resisted electrolyte only retains 40.8%.BSPE+10%LiBOB also facilitates stable electrochemical cycling of solid-state Li-S cells.This study blazes a new trail in controlling the Li^(+)transport ability and SEI properties,synergistically.

High-performance PVDF-HFP based gel polymer electrolyte with a safe solvent in Li metal polymer battery

Poly(vinylidenefluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene)(PVDF-HFP)based gel polymer electrolytes are widely studied owing to their electrochemical stability and high dielectric constant.However,most gel polymer electrolytes show unsatisfied safety and interface compatibility due to excessive absorption of volatile and flammable liquid solvents.Herein,by using a safe solvent(N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone)with higher boiling(203℃)and flash points(95℃),we initiatively fabricate a flexible PVDF-HFP based gel polymer electrolyte.The obtained gel polymer electrolyte demonstrates a high ionic conductivity of 7.24×10^−4 S cm−1,an electrochemical window of 5.2 V,and a high lithium transference number of 0.57.As a result,the synthesized polymer electrolyte exhibits a capacity retention of 70%after 500 cycles at 0.5 C,and a discharge capacity of 86 mAh g−1 even at a high current rate of 10 C for LiFePO4 based Li metal batteries.Moreover,a stable Li plating/stripping for more than 500 h is achieved under 0.1 mAh at both room temperature and 70℃.Our results indicate that the PVDF-HFP polymer electrolyte is promising for manufacturing safe and high-performance Li metal polymer batteries.

“Polymer-in-ceramic” based poly(ε-caprolactone)/ceramic composite electrolyte for all-solid-state batteries

Inspired by the concept of "polymer-in-ceramic",a composite poly(ε-caprolactone)(PCL)/ceramic containing LiTFSI is prepared and investigated as a solid electrolyte for all-solid-state batteries.The composite with the optimum concentration of 45 wt% LiTFSI and 75 wt% Li1.5Al0.5Ge1.5(PO4)3(LAGP,NASICON-type structure) exhibits a high ionic conductivity(σi=0.17 mS cm-1) at 30℃,a transference number of 0.30,and is stable up to 5.0 V.The composite electrolyte is a flexible and self-standing membrane.Solid-state LiFePO4//Li batteries with this composite electrolyte demonstrate excellent cycling stability with high discharge capacity of 157 mA h g-1,high capacity retention of 96% and coulombic efficiency of 98.5% after 130 cycles at 30℃ and 0.1 C rate.These electrochemical properties are better than other PCL-based allsolid-lithium batteries,and validate the concept of "polymer-in-ceramic" by avoiding the drawback of lower conductivity in prior "polymer-in-ceramic" electrolyte at high concentration of the ceramic.

Unveiling and Alleviating Chemical“Crosstalk”of Succinonitrile Molecules in Hierarchical Electrolyte for High-Voltage Solid-State Lithium Metal Batteries

Succinonitrile-based plastic crystal electrolytes have emerged for high-energy-density Li metal batteries in terms of their superior ambient ionic conductivity,low flammability,and benign compatibility with high voltage cathode,but are hampered by inherent instabilities toward Li anodes.Constructing hierarchical solid electrolytes structure is a fundamental approach to protect Li anode from succinonitrile attacks,with succinonitrile-based oxidation-resistance layer facing high voltage cathode and reduction-tolerant layer contacting Li anode.However,free succinonitrile molecules in succinonitrile-based electrolyte layer can diffuse across the electrolyte/electrolyte interface and further reach Li anode surface during the battery cycle.This chemical“crosstalk”cause reduction-tolerant electrolyte layer to fail to protect the Li anode from the attacks of free succinonitrile molecules.Nano Li_(6.4)La_(3)Zr_(1.4)Ta_(0.6)O_(12)is introduced creatively into succinonitrile-based electrolyte layer.By taking advantage of the complexation between La atoms in Li_(6.4)La_(3)Zr_(1.4)Ta_(0.6)O_(12)and N atoms in succinonitrile,the free succinonitrile molecules are successfully immobilized in succinonitrile-based electrolyte layer.The resulting low resistance and highly durable solid electrolyte interphase and cathode electrolyte interphase endow NCM622||Li batteries with remarkable cycle stability.Our research provides a new idea for the real application of plastic crystal electrolytes in high voltage solid-state lithium metal batteries.

Anchoring polysulfide with artificial solid electrolyte interphase for dendrite-free and low N/P ratio Li-S batteries

Lithium sulfur batteries are regarded as a promising candidate for high-energy-density energy storage devices.However,the lithium metal anode in lithium-sulfur batteries encounters the problem of lithium dendrites and lithium metal consumption caused by polysulfide corrosion.Herein we design a dualfunction PMMA/PPC/LiNO3composite as an artificial solid electrolyte interphase(PMCN-SEI)to protect Li metal anode.This SEI offers multiple sites of C=O for polysulfide anchoring to constrain corrosion of Li metal anode.The lithiated polymer group and Li3N in PMCN-SEI can homogenize lithium-ion deposition behavior to achieve a dendrite-free anode.As a result,the PMCN-SEI protected Li metal anode enables the Li||Li symmetric batteries to maintain over 300 cycles(1300 h)at a capacity of 5 m Ah cm^(-2),corresponding to a cumulative capacity of 3.25 Ah cm^(-2).Moreover,Li-S batteries assembled with 20μm of Li metal anode(N/P=1.67)still deliver an initial capacity of 1166 m A h g-1at 0.5C.Hence,introducing polycarbonate polymer/inorganic composite SEI on Li provides a new solution for achieving the high energy density of Li-S batteries.

In-situ polymerized carbonate induced by Li-Ga alloy as novel artificial interphase on Li metal anode

Li metal is considered an ideal anode material because of its high theoretical capacity and low electrode potential.However,the practical usage of Li metal as an anode is severely limited because of inevitable parasitic side reactions with electrolyte and dendrites formation.At present,single-component artificial solid electrolyte interphase cannot simultaneously meet the multiple functions of promoting ion conduction,guiding lithium ion deposition,inhibiting dendrite growth,and reducing interface side reactions.Therefore,multi-component design on Li metal surface is widely investigated to achieve long-term cycling.Herein,we report a Li_(2)Ga-carbonate polymer interphase layer to solve volume changes,Li dendrites formation and side-reactions.As a result,the Li symmetric cell can be stabilized at 3.0 m A/cm^(2)in carbonate electrolyte with limited volume of 20μL.Coupled with 13.6 mg/cm^(2)(loading of 2 mAh/cm^(2))LiFePO_(4)cathode,discharge capacity retains at 90%for over 150 cycles under limited electrolyte conditions.With such an alloy-polymer interphase layer,higher energy density Li metal batteries become prominent in the near future.