Polar groups promoting in-situ polymerization phase separation for solid electrolytes enabling solid-state lithium batteries

Plastic-crystal-embedded elastomer electrolytes (PCEEs), produced through polymerization-induced phase separation (PIPS), are gaining popularity as solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs). However, it remains to be investigated whether all monomer molecules can achieve polymerization-induced phase separation and the corresponding differences in lithium metal battery performance. Herein, we prepared PCEEs with different functional groups (OH, CN, F) through in situ polymerization. Research findings show that PCEE containing - CN or - F achieves the separation of the plastic crystalline phase and succinonitrile (SN) phase, whereas PCEE containing OH cannot due to hydrogen bonding with the SN phase. Notably, the PCEE synthesized with the F monomer (FBA-PCEE) exhibited exceptional interfacial stability with lithium metal anodes and lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathodes, due to its unique coordination mechanism with lithium ions. The FBA-PCEE demonstrated a high ionic conductivity (2.02 × 10