Rationally Designed in-Situ Gelled Polymer-Ceramic Hybrid Electrolyte Enables Superior Performance and Stability in Quasi-Solid-State Lithium-Sulfur Batteries

Abstract

Despite boasting giant leaps in performance improvement over the years, the current commercial standard, Li-ion batteries, are fast approaching their theoretical limits. Meanwhile, Lithium-Sulfur (Li-S) batteries offering ultra-high theoretical energy density (～2600 Whkg-1), cost-effectiveness, and nontoxicity are being seen as promising alternatives. Despite their plentiful advantages, the practicality of Li-S batteries has been largely stymied by several challenges: a) deleterious polysulfide dissolution and ‘shuttle effect’, b) significant volume change of S cathodes during cycling, c) safety concerns with flammable traditional glyme-based electrolyte, and d) the instability of Li anode. To mitigate these challenges, researchers have explored all-solid-state electrolytes, but their poor Li-ion conductivity, high interfacial impedance, and need for expensive, exotic materials and complex fabrication procedures severely limit their practical application.To overcome these challenges, we propose an in-situ gelled polymer-ceramic hybrid silsesquioxane-based electrolyte system. The gelled matrix, thermally crosslinked post cell fabrication, immobilizes the glyme-based liquid electrolyte and exhibits high liquid-like ionic conductivities (1.03 mS.cm-1), low interfacial impedance, and high oxidative potential (>4.5V vs. Li/Li+) . In this study, in addition to vastly decreased flammability, we report superior Li-ion conductivity compared to state-of-art solid-state Li-S electrolytes. This high ionic conductivity translated to a significantly improved specific capacity of 1050 mAh.gS-1 at 0.2 C, elevated Coulombic efficiencies (>98.5%), and elevated rate kinetics. The gelled electrolytes exhibited stable cycling in a large temperature range (-10oC - 60 oC). Moreover, polysulfide permeation studies and subsequent DFT calculations revealed that the gelled electrolyte exhibited strong chemical absorptivity to lithium polysulfides due to the polar silsesquioxane core, which translated to superior capacity retention (>80% over 200 cycles). Further, post- mortem XPS characterization studies revealed the formation of stable SEI at the anode and cathode, and SEM of cycled anodes showed reduced dendritic formations. Finally, the electrolyte was tested in practical pouch cell architecture, and the cells demonstrated excellent reliability even under mechanical stress. This work successfully reports a robust, rationally designed gelled electrolyte system for developing safe and high-performance quasi-solid state Li-S batteries.