Enhancement of stability for lithium oxygen batteries by employing electrolytes gelled by poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) and tetraethylene glycol dimethyl ether

Abstract Free-standing gel polymer electrolytes with poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) matrix plasticized with tetraethylene glycol dimethyl ether (TEGDME) were prepared and investigated. The as-prepared gel polymer electrolytes exhibited large operating window and acceptable ionic conductivity. When applied in lithium oxygen batteries, the gel polymer electrolyte could support a high initial discharge capacity of 2988 mAh g −1 when a carbon black electrode without catalyst was used as cathode. Furthermore, the battery with gel polymer electrolyte can last at least 50 cycles in the fixed capacity cycling, displaying an excellent stability. Detailed study reveals that the gelling process is essential for the cycling stability enhancement. With excellent electrochemical properties, the free-standing gel polymer electrolyte presented in this investigation has great application potentials in long-life lithium oxygen batteries.

[1]  Bruno Scrosati,et al.  Composite gel membranes: a new class of improved polymer electrolytes for lithium batteries , 2001 .

[2]  Kai Xie,et al.  Investigation of oxygen reduction chemistry in ether and carbonate based electrolytes for Li–O2 batteries , 2012 .

[3]  K. M. Abraham,et al.  A Polymer Electrolyte‐Based Rechargeable Lithium/Oxygen Battery , 1996 .

[4]  Hun‐Gi Jung,et al.  An improved high-performance lithium-air battery. , 2012, Nature chemistry.

[5]  C. Wan,et al.  Review of gel-type polymer electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries , 1999 .

[6]  Bing Sun,et al.  Porous graphene nanoarchitectures: an efficient catalyst for low charge-overpotential, long life, and high capacity lithium-oxygen batteries. , 2014, Nano letters.

[7]  Bing Sun,et al.  Conducting polymer-doped polyprrrole as an effective cathode catalyst for Li-O2 batteries , 2013 .

[8]  Bing Sun,et al.  Porous poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) polymer membrane with sandwich-like architecture for highly safe lithium ion batteries , 2014 .

[9]  M. Harun,et al.  Electrochemical studies on epoxidised natural rubber-based gel polymer electrolytes for lithium-air cells , 2008 .

[10]  P. Bruce,et al.  Reactions in the rechargeable lithium-O2 battery with alkyl carbonate electrolytes. , 2011, Journal of the American Chemical Society.

[11]  K. Kang,et al.  The potential for long-term operation of a lithium-oxygen battery using a non-carbonate-based electrolyte. , 2012, Chemical communications.

[12]  Y. Kumar,et al.  Ionic liquid mediated magnesium ion conduction in poly(ethylene oxide) based polymer electrolyte , 2011 .

[13]  B. McCloskey,et al.  Lithium−Air Battery: Promise and Challenges , 2010 .

[14]  K. Kubota,et al.  Evaluation of interactive effects on the ionic conduction properties of polymer gel electrolytes. , 2012, The journal of physical chemistry. B.

[15]  B. Scrosati,et al.  Nanocomposite polymer electrolytes for lithium batteries , 1998, Nature.

[16]  Bing Sun,et al.  Graphene nanosheets as cathode catalysts for lithium-air batteries with an enhanced electrochemical performance , 2012 .

[17]  P. Bruce,et al.  An O2 cathode for rechargeable lithium batteries: The effect of a catalyst , 2007 .

[18]  L. Hong,et al.  In situ preparation of poly(ethylene oxide)–SiO2 composite polymer electrolytes , 2004 .

[19]  K. Abraham,et al.  Highly Conductive PEO-like Polymer Electrolytes , 1997 .

[20]  Meilin Liu,et al.  Nanostructured electrodes for lithium-ion and lithium-air batteries: the latest developments, challenges, and perspectives , 2011 .

[21]  Peng Zhang,et al.  A novel process to prepare porous membranes comprising SnO2 nanoparticles and P(MMA-AN) as polymer electrolyte , 2008 .

[22]  Ji‐Guang Zhang,et al.  Investigation on the charging process of Li2O2-based air electrodes in Li–O2 batteries with organic carbonate electrolytes , 2011 .

[23]  Ruoshi Li,et al.  Novel composite polymer electrolyte for lithium air batteries , 2010 .

[24]  Bing Sun,et al.  Honeycomb-like porous gel polymer electrolyte membrane for lithium ion batteries with enhanced safety , 2014, Scientific Reports.

[25]  J. Xu,et al.  Polymer gel electrolytes based on oligomeric polyether/cross-linked PMMA blends prepared via in situ polymerization , 2005 .

[26]  W. Bennett,et al.  Hierarchically porous graphene as a lithium-air battery electrode. , 2011, Nano letters.

[27]  Seung M. Oh,et al.  Performance of gel-type polymer electrolytes according to the affinity between polymer matrix and plasticizing solvent molecules , 2001 .

[28]  D. Bethune,et al.  Limitations in Rechargeability of Li-O2 Batteries and Possible Origins. , 2012, The journal of physical chemistry letters.

[29]  Xiangwu Zhang,et al.  Lithiumoxygen batteriesLimiting factors that affect performance , 2011 .

[30]  J. Read.  Ether-Based Electrolytes for the Lithium/Oxygen Organic Electrolyte Battery , 2006 .

[31]  Peng Zhang,et al.  A novel sandwiched membrane as polymer electrolyte for lithium ion battery , 2007 .

[32]  Ben Wang,et al.  Lithium–Air Batteries Using SWNT/CNF Buckypapers as Air Electrodes , 2010 .

[33]  Keith Scott,et al.  Selection of oxygen reduction catalysts for rechargeable lithium–air batteries—Metal or oxide? , 2011 .

[34]  Anthony K. Burrell,et al.  Limited Stability of Ether-Based Solvents in Lithium–Oxygen Batteries , 2012 .

[35]  F. Faglioni,et al.  Predicting autoxidation stability of ether- and amide-based electrolyte solvents for Li-air batteries. , 2012, The journal of physical chemistry. A.

[36]  C. Wan,et al.  Microporous PVdF-HFP based gel polymer electrolytes reinforced by PEGDMA network , 2004 .

[37]  Jean-Marie Tarascon,et al.  Li-O2 and Li-S batteries with high energy storage. , 2011, Nature materials.

[38]  Shuo Chen,et al.  Platinum-gold nanoparticles: a highly active bifunctional electrocatalyst for rechargeable lithium-air batteries. , 2010, Journal of the American Chemical Society.

[39]  Peng Zhang,et al.  Research on a gel polymer electrolyte for Li-ion batteries , 2008 .

[40]  Kang Xu,et al.  Reaction mechanisms for the limited reversibility of Li–O2 chemistry in organic carbonate electrolytes , 2011 .

[41]  Bing Sun,et al.  Hierarchical NiCo2O4 nanorods as an efficient cathode catalyst for rechargeable non-aqueous Li-O2 batteries , 2013 .