Publication Date

9-25-2023

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

ACS Applied Energy Materials

Volume

6

Issue

18

DOI

10.1021/acsaem.3c01357

First Page

9400

Last Page

9408

Abstract

Composite polymer electrolytes (CPEs) strike an effective balance between ionic conductivity and mechanical flexibility for lithium-ion solid-state batteries. Long-term performance, however, is limited by capacity fading after hundreds of charge and discharge cycles. The causes of performance degradation include multiple contributing factors such as dendrite formation, physicochemical changes in electrolytes, and structural remodeling of porous electrodes. Among the many factors that contribute to performance degradation, the effect of stress specifically on the composite electrolyte is not well understood. This study examines the mechanical changes in a poly(ethylene oxide) electrolyte with bis(trifluoromethane) sulfonimide. Two different sizes of Li6.4La3Zr1.4Ta0.6O12 particles (500 nm and 5 μm) are compared to evaluate the effect of the surface-to-volume ratio of the ion-conducting fillers within the composite. Cyclic compression was applied to mimic stress cycling in the electrolyte, which would be caused by asymmetric volume changes that occur during charging and discharging cycles. The electrolytes exhibited fatigue softening, whereby the compressive modulus gradually decreased with an increase in the number of cycles. When the electrolyte was tested for 500 cycles at 30% compressive strain, the compressive modulus of the electrolyte was reduced to approximately 80% of the modulus before cycling. While the extent of softening was similar regardless of particle size, CPEs with 500 nm particles exhibited a significant reduction in ionic conductivity after cyclic compression (1.4 × 10-7 ± 2.3 × 10-8 vs 1.1 × 10-7 ± 2.0 × 10-8 S/cm, mean ± standard deviation, n = 4), whereas there was no significant change in ionic conductivity for CPEs with 5 μm particles. These observations ─performed deliberately in the absence of charge-discharge cycles ─show that repetitive mechanical stresses can play a significant role in altering the performance of CPEs, thereby revealing another possible mechanism for performance degradation in all-solid-state batteries.

Funding Number

2125192

Funding Sponsor

National Science Foundation

Keywords

composite polymer electrolyte, cyclic compression, elastic modulus, fatigue softening, ionic conductivity, particle distribution

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Department

Chemical and Materials Engineering; Mechanical Engineering

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