A Biobased Composite Gel Polymer Electrolyte with Functions of Lithium Dendrites Suppressing and Manganese Ions Trapping

Abstract

Lithium (Li) dendrites in Li anodes, and dissolution and migration of manganese (Mn) ions in LiMn2O4 (LMO) cathodes, have hampered these extraordinary electrode materials from being efficiently applied in high performance Li batteries. Here, a novel, bifunctional, biobased composite gel polymer electrolyte (c‐GPE) is created to simultaneously deal with the two critical issues. The skeleton of c‐GPE is constructed from a sandwich structure composed of porous polydopamine spheres and two layers of the environmentally friendly soy protein isolate‐based nanofiber membranes, and the carbonized polydopamine spheres are coated without any binder on the surface of the membranes. After a facile and innocuous preparation process, the skeleton material displays excellent thermal stability and good affinity to liquid electrolyte, which endows c‐GPE with significant functions of effective mitigation of the dissolution of Mn ions, and chelation of the fleeing Mn ions, as well as the dramatic suppression of Li dendrite growth. Consequently, the LMO/Li batteries involving c‐GPE show a great improvement in the cycling stability and rate performance compared with those of the cells based on commercial Celgard 2400. This work will be quite promising to meet the distinct requirements from Li batteries and provide a high‐efficiency and safe biobased GPE for next generation energy storage systems.

An Ultrarobust Composite Gel Electrolyte Stabilizing Ion Deposition for Long‐Life Lithium Metal Batteries

“…As the most promising alternatives to solid electrolytes, gel electrolytes (GEs) that can combine such advantages as relatively high ionic conductivity and good interfacial properties are of great interest for fabricating advanced LMBs. Thus far, manifold GEs based on poly(ethylene oxide), poly(vinylidene fluoride‐ co ‐hexafluoropropylene), polyacrylonitrile, thermoplastic polyurethane, soy protein, etc. have been intensively studied and demonstrated to show satisfactory ionic conductivity (approaching 1.5 × 10 −3 S cm −1 ).…”

Recent Progress of Electrolyte Design for Lithium Metal Batteries

“…Zhu et al. also designed a bio‐based composite GPE (Scheme c) to tackle both dendrite growth of lithium anode and Mn x + dissolution of LiMn 2 O 4 cathode . The GPE mainly composed of environmental friendly soy protein isolate (SPI) and porous polydopamine spheres (PDSs).…”

“…Zhu et al also designed a bio-based composite GPE (Scheme 4c) to tackle both dendrite growth of lithium anode and Mn x + dissolution of LiMn 2 O 4 cathode. [24] The GPE mainly composed of environmental friendly soy protein isolate (SPI) and porous polydopamine spheres (PDSs). However, versatile GPEs usually suffer from increased thickness and battery volume due to the combination of various components, so further optimization should be included.…”

Safety regulation of gel electrolytes in electrochemical energy storage devices

“…GEs feature high ion conductivity and good interfacial properties due to LEs, and non-leakage and good mechanical properties due to SEs. GEs can also contribute to suppressing the dendrite growth [13][14][15][16][17][18]. As a result, GEs have been becoming more and more promising [19,20].…”