High-performance solid-state lithium-metal batteries
(SSLMBs) require
solid electrolytes displaying outstanding electrochemical stability,
excellent ionic conductivity, and high Li+ ion transference
number. On top of these, it should also be compatible with the electrodes
applied and functionable under room temperature. To achieve these,
a solution-casting technique is proposed herein to prepare a flexible
composite polymer electrolyte (CPE), which is equipped with a high
ionic conductivity and Li+ ion transference number, concurrently
applicable in the construction of high-voltage solid-state Li batteries.
The proposed CPE, which is made up of poly(vinylidene difluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP)/polypropylene carbonate
(PPC) blend with an Al-doped Li7La3Zr2O12 (Al-LLZO) filler, was sandwiched between PVDF-HFP/PPC–lithium
bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI) skin layers with SN plasticizer
added. This formulation of PVDF-HFP/PPC/Al-LLZO/LiTFSI/SN was abbreviated
as sandwich-PPA in our study. Such configuration permits notable resistance
reduction at the electrode–electrolyte interface while suppressing
Li dendrite growth throughout the robust charging–discharging
process. This can be attributed to the excellent performance of the
sandwich composite electrolyte membrane, which promises high ionic
conductivity (ca. 4.04 × 10–4 S cm–1) and a high Li+ ion transference
number (ca. 0.583) at room temperature. A CR2032
coin cell, which is assembled with Al2O3-C@NCA/Sandwich-PPA/Li,
delivered a high specific capacity (186.20 mAh g–1 at 0.1C at room temperature), along with its excellent rate performance
and cycle stability (discharge capacity of 126.23 mAh g–1; capacity retention of 80.03% after 100 cycles at a rate of 0.5C
at room temperature). This verified the potential of our novelty-formulated
solid-state electrolyte to secure excellent performance of SSLMBs.