Hydrogen Bonding Induced Confinement Effect between Ultrafine Nanowires and Polymer Chains for Low-Energy-Barrier Ion Transport in Composite Electrolytes

Abstract

Achieving low-energy-barrier lithium ion transport is a fundamental issue for composite solid-state electrolytes (CSEs) in all-solid-state lithium metal batteries (ASSLMBs). In this work, a hydrogen bonding induced confinement strategy was proposed to construct confined template channels for low-energy-barrier lithium ion continuous transport. Specifically, the ultrafine boehmite nanowires (BNWs) with 3.7 nm diameter were synthesized and superiorly dispersed in a polymer matrix to form a flexible CSE. The ultrafine BNWs with large specific surface areas and abundant oxygen vacancies assist the dissociation of lithium salts and confine the conformation of polymer chain segments by hydrogen bonding between the BNWs and the polymer matrix, thus forming a polymer/ultrafine nanowire intertwined structure as template channels for dissociated lithium ions continuous transport. As a result, the as-prepared electrolytes displayed a satisfactory ionic conductivity of 0.714 mS cm–1 and low energy barrier (16.30 kJ mol–1), and the assembled ASSLMB delivered excellent specific capacity retention (92.8%) after 500 cycles. This work demonstrates a promising way to design CSEs with high ionic conductivity for high-performance ASSLMBs.

The interface engineering and structure design of an alloying-type metal foil anode for lithium ion batteries: a review

“…In addition, the intrinsic characteristic of the solid-state electrolyte (such as stability in the ambient condition, diffusion potential barrier, and ionic conductivity), and the compatibility with the metal foil should be optimized. 117,118 Meanwhile, the pre-lithiation technique with low cost, high efficiency, and mass production ability should be further explored, which can compensate the lithium loss, enhance the CE stability, and prolong the cycling life of LIB full-cells.…”