A New Version of the Lithium Ion Conducting Plastic Crystal Solid Electrolyte

Iolanda S. Klein, Zuofeng Zhao, Stephen K. Davidowski, Jeffery Yarger, Charles Angell

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

Portable electronic devices are predominantly powered by lithium ion batteries in which the electrolyte is a liquid or gel of lithium salts dissolved in molecular solvents. There have been many attempts to replace the flammable liquid component of the electrolyte by alternative alkali metal transporting media, such as superionic crystals, alkali-conducting glassy solids, ionic liquids, salt-in-molecular plastic crystal solvent, and salt-in-ionic plastic crystal solvents. Except for the first two of the above, which have their own problems, all the above have the disadvantage that the alkali cation is the least mobile of the ionic species due to its high charge/radius ratio. Here, some new, silylsulfate-based are introduced. Members of the class of lithium ion conductor in which the alkali ion is the only cationic species present, and the salt itself is a plastic crystal, a solid in which the anion centers of mass are ordered, but the anion orientations are disordered and dynamic (best example NaCB9H10, see text). It is shown that depending on the nature of the anion, the conductivity may be within a factor of two of the standard liquid carbonate electrolyte. The soft, spreadable electrolyte, impregnated in Celgard separators, supports truly reversible Li insertion into the LiCoO2 cathode.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number1801324
JournalAdvanced Energy Materials
Volume8
Issue number29
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 15 2018

Keywords

  • impregnable solid electrolytes
  • lithium ion plastic crystal
  • reversible lithium intercalation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
  • General Materials Science

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'A New Version of the Lithium Ion Conducting Plastic Crystal Solid Electrolyte'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this