This ERC CoG project has treated the development of solid polymer electrolytes for different types of batteries, most notably lithium batteries, but also many “next-generation batteries” which might be implemented in the future. Today’s lithium-ion batteries contain liquid electrolytes, which are reactive, contribute to battery ageing and safety issues. Solid polymer electrolytes are by comparison more safe, and can also lead to implementation of novel electrode materials that can make the energy content higher. This would mean, for example, electric vehicles with longer driving range and generally are more versatile electrification.
The problem is that the electrochemical performance of polymer electrolytes is not good enough. In particular, the ions of the salt are not transported as fast in polymers as they are in liquids. This project has explored one in this context understudied category of polymers as host materials: polycarbonate and polyesters. These have the possibility to surpass other polymer materials (i.e. polyethers), which have been dominating scientific literature until today. One major advantage is that polycarbonates and polyesters can be chemically tailored in a straightforward way, thereby more easily rendering improved properties.
The project has thereby strived to make novel such polymers, make electrolytes from them, and implement these in novel battery devices. To successfully achieve this, improved scientific understanding needs to be achieved regarding how they work, e.g. by combining insights from computational modelling and experiments.
