Effect of Lithium Salt Concentration on Materials Characteristics and Electrochemical Performance of Hybrid Inorganic/Polymer Solid Electrolyte for Solid-State Lithium-Ion Batteries

Lithium-ion batteries are popular energy storage devices due to their high energy density. Solid electrolytes appear to be a potential replacement for flammable liquid electrolytes in lithium batteries. This inorganic/hybrid solid electrolyte is a composite of lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI) salt, (poly(vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoro propylene) (PVDF-HFP) polymer and sodium superionic conductor (NASICON)-type Li1+xAlxTi2−x(PO4)3 (LATP) ceramic powder. The structure, morphology, mechanical behavior, and electrochemical performance of this composite solid electrolyte, based on various amounts of LiTFSI, were investigated. The lithium-ion transfer and conductivity increased as the LiTFSI lithium salt concentration increased. However, the mechanical strength apparently decreased once the percentage of LITFSI was over 60%. The hybrid electrolyte with 60% LiTFSI content showed high ionic conductivity of 2.14 × 10−4 S cm−1, a wide electrochemical stability window (3–6 V) and good electrochemical stability. The capacity of the Li|60% LiTFSI/PVDF-HFP/LATP| LiFePO4 solid-state lithium-metal battery was 103.8 mA h g−1 at 0.1 C, with a high-capacity retention of 98% after 50 cycles.