Interfacial barrier free organic-inorganic hybrid electrolytes for solid state batteries

Abstract

Organic-inorganic hybrid solid electrolytes (HSEs) are expected to overcome the inherent limitations of rigid fragile inorganic electrolytes for solid state batteries. Li-ion conductive filler such as garnet Li7La3Zr2O12 (LLZO) is proposed for the high performance of HSEs, unfortunately, which suffers from native surface layer resistance to Li-ion transport. Here we present highly conductive polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)-based HSEs incorporating LLZO fillers, whose resistive barriers are eliminated by dry etching. Our optimal composition of etched LLZO fillers (30 wt%) leads to ionic conductivity of 4.05 × 10-4 S cm-1, about two-fold improvement from non-etched counterpart. Li symmetric cells with etched fillers exhibit low interfacial resistance of 110 Ω cm2 and minimal overpotential of 90 mV. Moreover, high capacity of 79 mA h g-1 is highlighted at 4C, comparable or superior to liquid electrolyte or sulfide-based electrolyte devices. Interfacial environment in HSEs ideally modified for Li-ion transport is identified by 7Li NMR measurements. © 2021 Elsevier B.V.