The vast polymer space hinders commercialization of solid polymer electrolytes

The gap

Evidence profile

Sourced from the future work and stated research gap and abstract of the source papers, classified as general, spanning 3 journals. Those papers have been cited 194 times in total.

Supporting evidence — 3 representative gaps

• Poly(Ionic Liquid) Electrolytes at an Extreme Salt Concentration for Solid-State Batteries (2024) · Journal of the American Chemical Society · cited 55× · doi

  This study clearly demonstrates that increasing the molten salt components in polymer-in-salt electrolytes can effectively enhance electrolyte performance. Here we would like to open a discussion on factors that should be considered for future design of polymer-in-salt electrolytes. Using molten salts with low salt crystallinity is one key factor since high salt concentrations tend to form crystalline phases that reduce electrolyte conductivity. To suppress salt crystallisation in polymer/salts melt electrolytes, Page 9/22 increasing anion asymmetry is an effective way together with the use of mixed salts, which further lower the Tg of the electrolytes and enhance ionic conductivity. Interestingly, in the polyIL-in-salt electrolyte, we found that the decoupled ion transport from structural relaxation in the medium-high salt concentration range (e.g. 1:2 here) changes to coupled ion transport at ultra-high salt concentrations. Nevertheless, the electrolyte performance has improved. Therefore, it is not always necessary to pursue highly decoupled ion transport during electrolyte design. In addition, at extreme salt concentrations, the properties of molten salts become a dominant factor in the overall electrolyte properties. We can see that both the Tg and conductivity approach those of the molten salts. Therefore, the excellent electrolyte properties of molten salts are crucial, such as the high conductivity of the molten salts should be the basic prerequisite. On the other hand, the polymer should not signicantly reduce the ionic conductivity of the molten salts. We believe that it is necessary to delve in-depth into the role of the polymer. According to our preliminary comparison of two ionic polymer matrices (polycation vs. polyanion) at high salt concentrations, the nature of the polymer does show different effects on the physicochemical properties of electrolytes, and the polycationic electrolytes have obvious advantage in achieving high conductivity, which should be associated with interactions between polymers and salts. Future comprehensive studies and comparisons of various polymer electrolyte systems will certainly help to provide more insights into the role of the polymer.

  generalfuture work
  Keywords: salt polymer salts electrolyte molten electrolytes high conductivity concentrations properties ionic transport increasing enhance performance
• De novo design of polymer electrolytes using GPT-based and diffusion-based generative models (2024) · npj Computational Materials · cited 47× · doi

  The vast polymer space hinders commercialization of solid polymer electrolytes. Low ionic conductivity is a major limitation of solid polymer electrolytes. There is a need for a systematic evaluation scheme for polymer generation.

  generalstated research gapevidence 5/5
  Keywords: vast polymer space hinders commercialization solid electrolytes low
• Regulating the Solvation Structure in Polymer Electrolytes for High‐Voltage Lithium Metal Batteries (2024) · Angewandte Chemie International Edition · cited 92× · doi

  However, traditional ether‐based polymer electrolytes are limited by their low lithium‐ion conductivity and narrow electrochemical window because of the well‐defined and intimated Li + ‐oxygen binding topologies in the solvation structure.

  generalabstractevidence 4/5
  Keywords: traditional ether based polymer electrolytes limited lithium conductivity narrow electrochemical window well defined intimated oxygen

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