Ion-Conducting Polymers as Interfacial Layers in Solid Electrolytes

The development of safe lithium/lithium ion batteries is of interest for large-scale energy storage applications such as electric vehicles. The use of solid-electrolytes (SE) is a promising alternative to commonly used liquid electrolyte based batteries, which have safety and electrochemical stability concerns. Notably, solid-state systems are bottlenecked in performance due to inadequate solid-to-solid contact between the SE and the electrode that leads to high interfacial impedance. To address this challenge, we have developed a class of ion-conducting polymers that can be utilized as thin interfacial layers that help mitigate the poor adhesion between the solid interface while still permitting lithium ion-transfer across the interface. We specifically report on the lithium-ion conductivity, mechanical, and adhesive properties of our materials. Lastly, we report the electrochemical stability and performance of the ion-conducting interfacial layers in normal lithium-ion battery operating conditions.