One-pot production of multiple stacked lithium-ion batteries with gel polymer electrolyte through high-energy electron beam irradiation

Gel polymer electrolytes (GPEs) have garnered considerable interest in lithium-ion battery (LIB) applications owing to their ability to combine the desirable attributes of liquid electrolytes (e.g., high conductivity) with the stability of solid electrolytes. They are fabricated by immobilizing the liquid electrolyte within a polymer matrix. Notably, the utilization of high-energy electron beam (EB) technology is a promising approach for the in situ preparation of GPEs, which establishes the need for an initiator or thermal treatment. The simultaneous generation of multiple GPEs via EB irradiation confers significant economic advantages. This study reports the simultaneous production of GPEs from multiple-stacked LIBs through a single-step irradiation of high-energy EB. In particular, we used trimethylolpropane propoxylate triacrylate with a trifunctional acrylate ester as the cross-linker for the GPE, and investigated the effect of the EB dose on the properties of the individual cell components and its electrochemical performance to determine the optimal EB dose of 15 kGy. Thereafter, we tested the penetration of EB irradiation on 0.5-Ah-level pouch cells. As observed, an EB of ∼ 15 kGy could penetrate seven pouch cells, which displayed stable cell performances when fabricated using simultaneous EB irradiation. Overall, the results demonstrated the economic feasibility of the proposed method owing to its high productivity on a commercial scale.