In Situ Alloying Enabled by Active Liquid Metal Filler for Self-Healing Composite Polymer Electrolytes.

ABSTRACT

Solid inorganics, known for kinetically inhibiting polymer crystallization and enhancing ionic conductivity, have attracted significant attention in solid polymer electrolytes. However, current composite polymer electrolytes (CPEs) are still facing challenges in Li metal batteries, falling short of inhibiting severe dendritic growth and resulting in very limited cycling life. This study introduces Ga62.5In21.5Sn16 (Galinstan) liquid metal (LM) as an active liquid alternative to conventional passive solid fillers, aiming at realizing self-healing protection against dendrite problems. Compared to solid inorganics, for example silica, LM droplets could more significantly reduce polymer crystallinity and enhance Li-ion conductivity due to their liquid nature, especially at temperatures below the polymer melting point. More importantly, LMs are unraveled as dynamic chemical traps, which are capable of blocking and consuming lithium dendrites upon contact via in situ alloying during battery operation and further inhibiting dendritic growth due to the lower deposition energy barrier of the formed Li-LM alloy. As a proof of concept, by strategically designing an asymmetric CPE with the active LM filling, a solid-state Li/LiFePO4 battery achieves promising full-cell functionality with notable rate performance and stable cycle life. This active filler-mediated self-healing approach could bring new insights into the battery design in versatile solid-state systems.