Ultrathin salt-free polymer-in-ceramic electrolyte for solid-state sodium batteries
Bin Tang,
Yibo Zhao,
Zhiyi Wang,
Shiwei Chen,
Yifan Wu,
Yuming Tseng,
Lujiang Li,
Yunlong Guo,
Zhen Zhou,
Shou-Hang Bo
Affiliations
Bin Tang
Engineering Research Center of Advanced Functional Material Manufacturing of Ministry of Education, School of Chemical Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, PR China
Yibo Zhao
University of Michigan - Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dong Chuan Rd., Minhang District, Shanghai, 200240, PR China
Zhiyi Wang
University of Michigan - Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dong Chuan Rd., Minhang District, Shanghai, 200240, PR China
Shiwei Chen
University of Michigan - Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dong Chuan Rd., Minhang District, Shanghai, 200240, PR China
Yifan Wu
University of Michigan - Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dong Chuan Rd., Minhang District, Shanghai, 200240, PR China
Yuming Tseng
University of Michigan - Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dong Chuan Rd., Minhang District, Shanghai, 200240, PR China
Lujiang Li
Department of Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, 999077, PR China
Yunlong Guo
University of Michigan - Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dong Chuan Rd., Minhang District, Shanghai, 200240, PR China
Zhen Zhou
Engineering Research Center of Advanced Functional Material Manufacturing of Ministry of Education, School of Chemical Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, PR China; School of Materials Science and Engineering, Institute of New Energy Material Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Advanced Energy Materials Chemistry (Ministry of Education), Renewable Energy Conversion and Storage Center (ReCast), Nankai University, Tianjin, 300350, PR China; Corresponding author.
Shou-Hang Bo
University of Michigan - Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dong Chuan Rd., Minhang District, Shanghai, 200240, PR China; School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dong Chuan Rd., Minhang District, Shanghai, 200240, PR China; Corresponding author.
The practical energy density of solid-state batteries remains limited, partly because of the lack of a general method to fabricate thin membranes for solid-state electrolytes with high ionic conductivity and low area-specific resistance (ASR). Herein, we use an ultrahigh concentration of a ceramic ion conductor (Na3SbS4) to build an ion-conduction “highway”, and a polymer (polyethylene oxide, 2 wt%) as a flexible host to prepare a polymer-in-ceramic ion-conducting membrane of approximately 40 μm. Without the use of any salt (e.g., NaPF6), the resulting membrane exhibits a threefold increase in electronic ASR and a twofold decrease in ionic ASR compared with a pure ceramic counterpart. The activation energy for sodium-ion transport is only 190 meV in the membrane, similar to that in pure ceramic, suggesting ion transport predominantly occurs through a percolated network of ion-conducting ceramic particles. The salt-free design also provides an opportunity to suppress dendritic metal electrodeposits, according to a recently refined chemomechanical model of metal deposition. Our work suggests that salt is not always necessary in composite solid-state electrolytes, which broadens the choice of polymers to allow the optimization of other desired attributes, such as mechanical strength, chemical/electrochemical stability, and cost.
