Single-Ion-Conducting Gel Polymer Electrolyte Based on Lithiated Nafion
Shuohao Wu, Mengjun Wu, Haining Zhang, Haolin Tang
Abstract
The use of gel polymer electrolytes (GPEs) is recognized as a promising strategy to improve the safety characteristics of current lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to the incorporation of polymer matrix and immobilization of the liquid phase. To achieve high performance and efficient Li + transport in GPEs, the selection of polymer is critically important. Herein, a single-ion-conducting GPE with a high lithium-ion transference number is proposed with lithiated Nafion (Li-Nafion) and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) polymers. We found that the interactions between electron-withdrawing C≡N groups Li + facilitate fast Li + transport and reduce the Li + migration barrier of Li + on the −SO 3 – groups. As a consequence, the designed GPE shows a high lithium-ion transference number of 0.93, an admirable ionic conductivity of 1.93 × 10 –4 S cm –1, and a wide electrochemical stability window up to 5.0 V at 30 °C. Further validation of the Li|LiFePO 4 cell shows a decent cycling performance with an initial discharge specific capacity of 126.1 mAh g –1 and a high capacity retention of 90.1% after 200 charge/discharge cycles at 1C. This study provides a strategy of Li-Nafion and a “decoupling” polymer to enhance the GPE performance and its applications on LIBs.