Electrode-Electrolyte Interfaces in Solid Polymer Lithium Batteries

Abstract

This thesis studies the performance of solid polymer lithium batteries from room temperature to elevated temperatures using mainly electrochemical techniques, with emphasis on the bulk properties of the polymer electrolyte and the electrode-electrolyte interfaces. Its contributions include: 1) Demonstrated the relationship between polymer segmental motion and ionic conductivity indeed has a Vogel-Tammann-Fulcher (VTF) dependence, and improved the conductivity of the graft copolymer electrolyte (GCE) by almost an order of magnitude by changing the ion-conducting block from poly(oxyethylene) methacrylate (POEM) to a block with a lower glass transition temperature ((T_g)) poly(oxyethylene) acrylate (POEA). 2) Identified the rate-limiting step in the battery occurs at the cathode-electrolyte interface using both full cell and symmetric cell electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), improved the battery rate capability by using the GCE as both the electrolyte and the cathode binder to reduce the resistance at the cathode-electrolyte interface, and used TEM and SEM to visualize the polymer-particle interface (full cells with (LiFePO_4) as the cathode active material and lithium metal as the anode were assembled and tested). 3) Applied the solid polymer battery to oil and gas drilling application, performed high temperature (up to 210°C) cycling (both isothermal and thermal cycling), and demonstrated for the first time, current exchange between a solid polymer electrolyte and a liquid lithium metal. Both the cell open-circuit-voltage (OCV) and the overall GCE mass remained stable up to 200°C, suggesting that the GCE is electrochemically and gravimetrically stable at high temperatures. Used full cell EIS to study the behavior of the various battery parameters as a function of cycling and temperature. 4) Identified the thermal instability of the cell was due to the reactivity of lithium metal and its passivation film at high temperatures, and used Li/GCE/Li symmetric cell EIS to study the thermal stability of the anode-electrolyte interface, which was responsible for the fast capacity fade observed at high temperatures. 5) Proposed a new electrolyte material and a new battery design called polymer ionic liquid (PIL) battery that can dramatically improve the safety, energy density, and rate capability of rechargeable lithium batteries.