TY  - JOUR
AU  - He, Xin
AU  - Yan, Bo
AU  - Zhang, Xin
AU  - Liu, Zigeng
AU  - Bresser, Dominic
AU  - Wang, Jun
AU  - Wang, Rui
AU  - Cao, Xia
AU  - Su, Yixi
AU  - Jia, Hao
AU  - Grey, Clare P.
AU  - Frielinghaus, Henrich
AU  - Truhlar, Donald G.
AU  - Winter, Martin
AU  - Li, Jie
AU  - Paillard, Elie-Elisée
TI  - Fluorine-free water-in-ionomer electrolytes for sustainable lithium-ion batteries
JO  - Nature Communications
VL  - 9
IS  - 1
SN  - 2041-1723
CY  - [London]
PB  - Nature Publishing Group UK
M1  - FZJ-2018-07629
SP  - 5320
PY  - 2018
AB  - The continuously increasing number and size of lithium-based batteries developed for large-scale applications raise serious environmental concerns. Herein, we address the issues related to electrolyte toxicity and safety by proposing a “water-in-ionomer” type of electrolyte which replaces organic solvents by water and expensive and toxic fluorinated lithium salts by a non-fluorinated, inexpensive and non-toxic superabsorbing ionomer, lithium polyacrylate. Interestingly, the electrochemical stability window of this electrolyte is extended greatly, even for high water contents. Particularly, the gel with 50 wt% ionomer exhibits an electrochemical stability window of 2.6 V vs. platinum and a conductivity of 6.5 mS cm−1 at 20 °C. Structural investigations suggest that the electrolytes locally self-organize and most likely switch local structures with the change of water content, leading to a 50% gel with good conductivity and elastic properties. A LiTi2(PO4)3/LiMn2O4 lithium-ion cell incorporating this electrolyte provided an average discharge voltage > 1.5 V and a specific energy of 77 Wh kg−1, while for an alternative cell chemistry, i.e., TiO2/LiMn2O4, a further enhanced average output voltage of 2.1 V and an initial specific energy of 124.2 Wh kg−1 are achieved.
LB  - PUB:(DE-HGF)16
C6  - pmid:30552314
UR  - <Go to ISI:>//WOS:000453244600003
DO  - DOI:10.1038/s41467-018-07331-6
UR  - https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/858789
ER  -