Layer-by-Layer Assembly Strategy for Reinforcing the Mechanical Strength of an Ionogel Electrolyte without Affecting Ionic Conductivity

Journal Article · Wed Dec 04 00:00:00 EST 2019 · ACS Applied Energy Materials

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/acsaem.9b01932· OSTI ID:1657987

Thapaliya, Bishnu Prasad ^[1]; Popov, Ivan ^[2]; Dai, Sheng ^[1]

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1. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
2. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

The simultaneous boosting of the ionic conductivity and the mechanical strength of an ionogel electrolyte is hindered by its entrapped electrolyte. In this paper, we report a promising strategy to boost the mechanical strength of an ionogel by coating it with an ultrathin layer of polyanions and polycations via layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly. The essence of our strategy is to make use of the intrinsic ionic structure of an ionogel membrane for facile LbL construction of a membrane electrolyte interface. The resulting ultrathin LbL coating enhanced the mechanical strength of the electrolyte 5-fold while maintaining its high ionic conductivity (~10^–4 S cm^–1 at 10 °C). The preliminary Li||LbL-LiNaf||LFP cell experiments exhibit promising electrochemical performance. This result is a significant development that will lead to the fabrication of robust membranes with liquid-like conductivity for lithium metal batteries.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division
• Grant/Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1657987
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 1810022
• Journal Information: ACS Applied Energy Materials, Journal Name: ACS Applied Energy Materials Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 3; ISSN 2574-0962
• Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

25 ENERGY STORAGE
Ionic liquids
Ionogel electrolyte
Layer-by-Layer (LbL) assembly
Lithium metal batteries (LMBs)
Polyanions
Polycations