An anisotropic strategy for developing polymer electrolytes endowing lithium metal batteries with electrochemo-mechanically stable interface.

Abstract

Developing versatile solid polymer electrolytes is a reasonable approach to achieving reliable lithium metal batteries but is still challenging due to the nonuniform lithium deposition associated with the sluggish Li⁺ kinetics and insufficient mechanical strength. Herein, the concept of developing anisotropic solid polymer electrolyte is realized via integrating polymer hosts with highly oriented polyacrylonitrile nanofibers modified by Li_6.4La₃Zr_1.4Ta_0.6O₁₂ particles. The oriented composite structure is employed to homogenize Li⁺ flux, serving as a physical barrier to resist lithium dendrites, retarding the side reaction between the electrolyte and lithium, thus endowing a compatible interface for lithium negative electrode. Correspondingly, the Li | |LiFePO₄ cells steadily operate over 1000 cycles, delivering durable capacity retention of 91% at 170 mA g^-1. Furthermore, numerical modeling and density functional theory are combined to clarify the multiphysics interplay between the designed solid polymer electrolyte and lithium negative electrode. This work provides a perspective for constructing interface-friendly solid polymer electrolytes at an electrochemo-mechanical level.