A Chitosan/Poly(ethylene oxide)-Based Hybrid Polymer Composite Electrolyte Suitable for Solid-State Lithium Metal Batteries

Solid-state electrolytes have good mechanical and thermal stability to meet the safety and performance of advanced lithium-based rechargeable battery technologies. However, the drawbacks such as high interfacial impedance and low ionic conductivity of the solid-state polymer electrolytes at room temperature are the current demanding challenges that need to be addressed. Here, we report hybrid polymer composite electrolyte that is composed of a chitosan composite polymer electrolyte soaked with a slightly liquid electrolyte. The hybrid polymer composite electrolyte has a high ionic conductivity about 6.8x10(-4) Scm(-1) with a low interfacial impedance at room temperature and outstanding flexibility. The lithium-metal/LiFePO4 solid-state cell using this hybrid polymer composite electrolyte can be operated at room temperature maintaining a high cathode capacity of 120 mA h g(-1) for 130 cycles. This chitosan/poly(ethylene oxide)-based hybrid polymer composite electrolyte system provides a promising direction for the creation of novel solid-electrolyte, which meets both high ionic conductivity and low interfacial impedance requirements for practical solid-polymer batteries.