Lithium (4-styrenesulfonyl) (trifluoromethanesulfonyl) imide based single-ion polymer electrolyte with superior battery performance

Abstract A novel single ion conducting polymer electrolyte is synthesized via a facile and efficient one-step ultraviolet initiated thiol-ene click reaction. The monomers of lithium (4-styrenesulfonyl) (trifluoromethanesulfonyl) imide, pentaerythritol tetrakis (2-mercaptoacetate) and pentaerythritol tetraacrylate are polymerized to be a crosslinked network structured polymer within a polypropylene nonwoven fabric supporting membrane by a photo-initiated thiol-ene click reaction. Upon solvent soaking, the obtained single ion conducting polymer electrolyte exhibits high ionic conductivity (0.84 mS cm−1 at room temperature), very high lithium ion transference number of 0.93, wide electrochemical window up to 5.2 V (vs. Li+/Li) and well compatibility with lithium metal anode. The corresponding LiFePO4/Li cell assembled with the prepared polymer electrolyte shows excellent rate capability and prominent cycling performance with the capacity retention rate of 83% after 400 cycles at 1 C. Therefore, the synthesized single ion conducting polymer electrolyte owns great potential for practical application in lithium ion batteries.