A Solid Electrolyte Based on Electrochemical Active Li4Ti5O12 with PVDF for Solid State Lithium Metal Battery

In parallel with researches unveiling the nature and mechanism in solid state battery, numbers of investigations have been pursuing methods to stabilize their performance as well as to reduce the cost. Simple preparation and earth-abundant ingredients are preconditions for a solid state electrolyte to be suitable for scalable production. In this work, a commercial anode active material, spinel Li4Ti5O12, is introduced for the first time, which has high ionic conductivity to sustain high rate charge/discharge with considerable high performance/cost ratio, into poly(vinylidene fluoride) to achieve a composite solid electrolyte. The membrane solid electrolyte containing 80 wt% of the Li4Ti5O12 (LTO-8) shows outstanding ionic conductivity of 2.87 x 10(-4) S cm(-1) at 35 degrees C and inhibits electronic conductive network. The self-sacrificed interface contributes to the stabilized performance of the composite. Li||LiFePO4 cells with LTO-8 present a discharge specific capacity of 150 mAh g(-1) at 0.5C and a considerable average specific capacity of 119 mAh g(-1) under 5C in 400 cycles, demonstrating its excellent working performance. This investigation provides promising application of Li4Ti5O12 for solid state electrolytes, which is superior to the reported solid state electrolytes in comprehensive performance, and surely paves another commercial way to solid state batteries.

Automated summary

This study introduces a commercial anode active material, Li4Ti5O12, into a poly(vinylidene fluoride) matrix to create a composite solid electrolyte with excellent performance. The composite electrolyte exhibits outstanding ionic conductivity and high rate charge/discharge capabilities, contributing to stabilized battery performance. The results demonstrate the promising application of Li4Ti5O12 in solid state electrolytes and pave the way for commercialization of solid state batteries.