Development and Progression of Polymer Electrolytes for Batteries: Influence of Structure and Chemistry

Abstract

Polymer electrolytes continue to offer the opportunity for safer, high-performing next-generation battery technology. The benefits of a polymeric electrolyte system lie in its ease of processing and flexibility, while ion transport and mechanical strength have been highlighted for improvement. This report discusses how factors, specifically the chemistry and structure of the polymers, have driven the progression of these materials from the early days of PEO. The introduction of ionic polymers has led to advances in ionic conductivity while the use of block copolymers has also increased the mechanical properties and provided more flexibility in solid polymer electrolyte development. The combination of these two, ionic block copolymer materials, are still in their early stages but offer exciting possibilities for the future of this field.

Polymer Electrolytes for Lithium-Ion Batteries Studied by NMR Techniques

“…As shown in Figure 10, the translational motion of Li + cations is characterized by the self-diffusion coefficient only regardless of the EC content. The diffusion decay shape of 1 H is more complicated (Figure 11) and can be decomposed into three exponential components described by Equation ( 2) [126]. The self-diffusion coefficient of H atoms can also be characterized by the average coefficient.…”

“…Parameters of ion transport for different NPE compositions: conductivity (σsp) at 20 °С, effective activation energies of conduction (E ef a (σsp)), self-diffusion coefficients (Ds), and transport numbers with respect to lithium cations (t+) [65]. As shown in Figure 32, spin-echo 7 Li attenuations (diffusion decays) are approximated by Equation (1). Therefore, lithium cation diffusion is characterized by only one self-diffusion coefficient.…”

“…It should be noted that currently existing lithium-ion batteries (LIB) have problems ensuring the safety of their operation and high cost. Attempts to solve these problems have led to the emergence of lithium-ion batteries with a polymer electrolyte, which contains nonvolatile components and does not react with electrode materials [1,2]. In addition, this work is aimed at developing post-lithium systems based on sodium [3,4].…”

3D Printable Composite Polymer Electrolytes: Influence of SiO2 Nanoparticles on 3D-Printability

“…Solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) displaying low flammability, enhanced electrochemical performance, good processability and flexibility, have the potential to overcome the limitations associated with liquid electrolytes tackling a route towards safe next-generation high energy density batteries [ 1 , 2 ]. Although in the meantime various polymeric materials such as polycarbonates, poly(methacrylate)s, poly(acrylonitrile)s or poly(ionic liquid)s have been investigated as SPEs, poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) is still the most investigated polymer in this area, due to its relatively low melting- and glass transition temperature and its ability to dissolve large amounts of lithium salts and actively participate in Li-ion transport [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]. Nevertheless, low room temperature ionic conductivity (10 −8 –10 −5 S/cm) as well as moderate mechanical integrity of SPEs still makes the development of alternative electrolyte materials desirable.…”

“…While PEG with molecular weights above 10 kDa displays an insufficient Li-ion conductivity [ 4 , 5 ] one of the promising approaches is the incorporation of inorganic (nano)particles into SPEs, where the synergy of inorganic and organic materials leads to an improvement of material properties and conductivity, such as Li-ion transport. In the meantime, various hybrid- (inorganically and organically modified nanocomposites), as well as so called composite electrolytes (CPE, physical mixing of components) have been investigated [ 1 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ]. It should be mentioned, that in literature blurred borders between the terms “composite” and “hybrid” electrolyte can be observed.…”