Fabrication of a new gel polymer electrolyte containing core–shell silica–polyelectrolyte nanoparticles via activators regenerated by electron transfer atom transfer radical polymerization (ARGET-ATRP) for high-performance lithium–sulfur batteries

Abstract

Presented herein is the fabrication of a new gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) containing core-shell nanoparticles for lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries. This work is to overcome drawbacks of poly (vinylidenefluoride) (PVDF)-based GPEs while simultaneously maintaining their beneficial electrochemical properties such as high ionic conductivity at ambient temperature and excellent chemical stability. Core-shell silica nanoparticles with silica as core and poly (vinylbenzenesulfonate) as shell was synthesized via activators regenerated by electron transfer atom transfer radical polymerization and incorporated into PVDF. The obtained composite displays ionic conductivity as high as 1.1 mS cm -1 at room temperature. Electrochemical experiments show that the new GPE acts as an effective electrolyte for high-performance lithium-sulfur batteries.

Research progress on gel polymer electrolytes for lithium-sulfur batteries

“…As for the preparation strategy of GPEs, it generally includes three steps: (a) Synthesizing polymer hosts; (b) obtaining membrane-like polymer hosts via solution-casting [43,44], electrospun [45][46][47], phase inversion [48,49] or hot-pressing [50]; and (c) immersing the membrane into liquid solutions containing lithium salts. In the preparation process of GPEs, solid hosts can be swelled in two ways: the polyporous crosslinking network and the partial gelation of hosts [20,51,52].…”

“…To further improve long-term cycling performance of cells, SiO 2 with novel structure has been recently designed. For instance, Sovizi et al [49] fabricated novel type SiO 2 nanoparticles with core (SiO 2 )shell (poly(vinylbenzenesulfonate)) structure for PVdF-based Li-S batteries. Compared with the no fillers added electrolytes, the obtained CGPE improved discharge capacity from 350 mAh g À1 to 400 mAh g À1 after 100 circles at 0.2C.…”

Polymer electrolytes for Li-S batteries: Polymeric fundamentals and performance optimization

“…Similarly, Ji and coworkers [104] demonstrated that Si-O groups on surface of silica nanoparticles can entrap polysulfide through supramolecular interactions. For one study, Madram et al [105] firstly synthesized core-shell Si nanoparticles by grafting shell of poly(vinylbenzenesulfonate) on the surface of Si core, and then prepared GPEs by mixing PVDF with core-shell Si nanoparticles, as is shown in Fig. 9(b).…”