Biodegradable Bacterial Cellulose-Supported Quasi-Solid Electrolyte for Lithium Batteries

Mingxia Yan, Wenjie Qu*, Qingdong Su, Shi Chen, Yi Xing, Yongxin Huang, Nan Chen, Yuejiao Li, Li Li, Feng Wu, Renjie Chen

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

50 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The stringent safety and sustainability requirements for electrolytes used in lithium batteries have led to significant research efforts into alternative materials. Here, a quasi-solid electrolyte based on biodegradable bacterial cellulose (BC) was successfully synthesized via a simple ball milling method. The BC provides plenty of sites for the attachment of ionic liquid electrolytes (ILEs) as well as ion transport channels. Moreover, the O-H groups contained in the BC molecular chains interact with anions in ILEs to form hydrogen bonds, which promotes the dissociation of the lithium salts. The prepared electrolytes (BC-ILEs) have good thermal stability with a decomposition temperature exceeding 300 °C and high ionic conductivities. The Li/BC-ILE/LiFePO4 battery exhibits remarkable electrochemical performance. More importantly, the results of the Fehling test verify that the electrolyte can be degraded by cellulase. The quasi-solid electrolyte broadens the range of electrolytes for lithium batteries and provides new avenues to explore safe and eco-friendly materials.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)13950-13958
Number of pages9
JournalACS applied materials & interfaces
Volume12
Issue number12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 25 Mar 2020

Keywords

  • bacterial cellulose
  • biodegradable
  • hydrogen bond
  • lithium battery
  • quasi-solid electrolyte
  • thermal stability

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Yan, M., Qu, W., Su, Q., Chen, S., Xing, Y., Huang, Y., Chen, N., Li, Y., Li, L., Wu, F., & Chen, R. (2020). Biodegradable Bacterial Cellulose-Supported Quasi-Solid Electrolyte for Lithium Batteries. ACS applied materials & interfaces, 12(12), 13950-13958. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.0c00621