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Synthesis of poly(ethylene-oxide)/nanoclay solid polymer electrolyte for all solid-state lithium/sulfur battery

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Abstract

A solid polymer electrolyte is fabricated using polyethylene oxide (PEO), lithium bis(Trifluromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI), and montmorillonite (MMT), with the aim of improving lithium ion conductivity, and the resulting solid polymer electrolyte is used for all solid-state lithium/sulfur batteries. The effect of temperature and nanoclay content on the conductivity of the resulting solid polymer electrolyte is investigated. The optimized electrolyte containing 10 wt% MMT exhibits ionic conductivity of 3.22 × 10−4 S cm−1 at 60 °C, a value that meets the operation requirements of an all solid-state sulfur cell. At 60 °C, all solid-state Li/S batteries using PEO/MMT solid polymer electrolyte display a good cycling performance, delivering 998 mAh g−1 initial discharge capacities and retaining a reversible specific discharge capacity of 634 mAh g−1 after 100 cycles at 0.1 C rate. At a higher rate of 0.5 C, the solid-state batteries still could deliver an acceptable specific discharge capacity of 643 mAh g−1 at 60 °C.

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Acknowledgments

This research was financially supported by Positec, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI), and the Canada Research Chairs (CRC). One of the authors (YZ) thanks the China Scholarship Council for Study Abroad Scholarship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L3G1, Canada

    Yongguang Zhang, Yan Zhao, Denise Gosselink & P. Chen

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  1. Yongguang Zhang
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  2. Yan Zhao
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  3. P. Chen
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Correspondence to P. Chen.

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Zhang, Y., Zhao, Y., Gosselink, D. et al. Synthesis of poly(ethylene-oxide)/nanoclay solid polymer electrolyte for all solid-state lithium/sulfur battery. Ionics 21, 381–385 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-014-1176-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-014-1176-2

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