A three-dimensional interconnected polymer/ceramic composite as a thin film solid electrolyte

Max J. Palmer, Sergiy Kalnaus, Marm B. Dixit, Andrew S. Westover, Kelsey B. Hatzell, Nancy J. Dudney, X. Chelsea Chen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

76 Scopus citations

Abstract

In this work we introduce an approach to fabricate a solid composite electrolyte film that is thin, ionically conductive, and mechanically robust with good potential for manufacturability, in the application of lithium metal batteries. First a doped-lithium aluminum titanium phosphate ceramic thin film with thickness of ~25 ​μm is formed by aqueous spray coating, a scalable process. The film is partially sintered to form a three-dimensionally interconnected structure with a dense backbone. It is then backfilled with a crosslinkable poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)-based polymer electrolyte. The composite has very high ceramic loading of 77 ​wt% (61 ​vol%) and an ionic conductivity of 3.5 ​× ​10-5 ​S/cm at 20 ​°C with an activation energy of 0.43 ​eV. The main ion transport pathway is through the ceramic network, predicted by modelling and verified by experiments. Owing to the interconnected structure of the ceramic, the composite electrolyte exhibits much improved mechanical strength.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)242-249
Number of pages8
JournalEnergy Storage Materials
Volume26
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2020
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
  • General Materials Science
  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology

Keywords

  • Composite electrolyte
  • Ionic conductivity
  • Lithium battery
  • Solid state electrolyte
  • Spray coating

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