Silanated Silica-Ceramic Materials, and Methods of Making and Using the Same

The invention provides a novel ceramic-metal oxide-polymer composite material. A functionalized metal oxide nanolayer coating can be bonded between LICGCs and polymers/oligomers, which protects the LICGC from corrosion, has a low interfacial resistance to Li+ migration, and can be a SIC. Hybrid ceramic-polymer electrolytes were formed by engineering the interface between a LICGC and a polymer, polyethylene oxide (PEO), by sputter coating a 200 nm thick SiO2 layer onto a lithium ion conducting glass ceramic (LICGC) and silanating the SiO2 with a functionalized PEG in the presence of LiTFSI. A low interfacial resistance (Rinterfacial) was measured, the same as that obtained for a SiO2 interface soaked with liquid tetraglyme/LiTFSI. The pegylated SiO2 interface (unlike the tetraglyme/LiTFSI interface) protected the LICGC from corrosion by Li0 metal. The (PEG-LiTFSI)-SiO2-LICGC could be bonded with polyethylene oxide/LiTFSI. This procedure provides a general method to bond other LICGCs to PEO-based polymers, and to incorporate other functionalities such as single ion conductivity into the interface via the incorporation of coupling agents with pendant anions.