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

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Abstract

The simultaneous boosting of the ionic conductivity and the mechanical strength of an ionogel electrolyte is hindered by its entrapped electrolyte. Herein, 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.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1265-1270
Number of pages6
JournalACS Applied Energy Materials
Volume3
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 24 2020

Funding

We thank Prof. Alexei Sokolov for helpful discussions. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division, under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725. I.P. acknowledges the partial financial support for the conductivity measurements by U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division under Contract No. ERKCC-02.

Keywords

  • ionic liquids
  • ionogel electrolyte
  • layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly
  • lithium metal batteries (LMBs)
  • polyanions
  • polycations

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