Bifunctional poly(ethylene glycol) based crosslinked network polymers as electrolytes for all‐solid‐state lithium ion batteries

Polymer electrolyte based lithium ion batteries represent a revolution in the battery community due to their intrinsic enhanced safety, and as a result polymer electrolytes have been proposed as a replacement for conventional liquid electrolytes. Herein, the preparation of a family of crosslinked network polymers as electrolytes via the ‘click‐chemistry’ technique involving thiol‐ene or thiol‐epoxy is reported. These network polymer electrolytes comprise bifunctional poly(ethylene glycol) as the lithium ion solvating polymer, pentaerythritol tetrakis (3‐mercaptopropionate) as the crosslinker and lithium bis(trifluoromethane)sulfonimide as the lithium salt. The crosslinked network polymer electrolytes obtained show low Tg, high ionic conductivity and a good lithium ion transference number (ca 0.56). In addition, the membrane demonstrated sterling mechanical robustness and high thermal stability. The advantages of the network polymer electrolytes in this study are their harmonious characteristics as solid electrolytes and the potential adaptability to improve performance by combining with inorganic fillers, ionic liquids or other materials. In addition, the simple formation of the network structures without high temperatures or light irradiation has enabled the practical large‐area fabrication and in situ fabrication on cathode electrodes. As a preliminary study, the prepared crosslinked network polymer materials were used as solid electrolytes in the elaboration of all‐solid‐state lithium metal battery prototypes with moderate charge–discharge profiles at different current densities leaving a good platform for further improvement. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry Crosslinked network polymer membranes with harmonious electrolyte characteristics were developed via the ‘click‐chemistry’ technique for applications in safe and high energy density all‐solid‐state lithium ion batteries.