Claims
- 1. In an electrochemical cell, an interpenetrating network solid polymer electrolyte comprising at least one branched siloxane polymer having one or more poly(alkylene oxide) branch as a side chain, at least one crosslinking agent, at least one monofunctional monomeric compound for controlling crosslinking density, at least one metal salt and at least one radical reaction initiator.
- 2. The interpenetrating network solid polymer electrolyte of claim 1, wherein said poly(alkylene oxide) side chain of siloxane polymer is represented by formulas (I-a and I-b) as a metal ion conducting phase,
- 3. The interpenetrating network solid polymer electrolyte of claim 1, wherein said crosslinking agent is represented by formula (II),
- 4. The interpenetrating network solid polymer electrolyte of claim 1, wherein said monomeric unit for controlling crosslinking density is represented by formula (III),
- 5. The interpenetrating network solid polymer electrolyte of claim 2, wherein the branched siloxane polymer contained therein in a proportion of 10 to 80 percent by weight of total weight of organic compounds in the solid polymer electrolyte.
- 6. The interpenetrating network solid polymer electrolyte of claim 2, wherein said proportion of said branched siloxane polymer is 30 to 75 percent by weight of total weight of organic compounds in the solid polymer electrolyte.
- 7. The interpenetrating network solid polymer electrolyte of claim 2, wherein said proportion of said the branched siloxane polymer is 50 to 70 percent by weight of total weight of organic compounds in the solid polymer electrolyte.
- 8. The interpenetrating network solid polymer electrolyte of claim 3, wherein said crosslinking agent is contained in a proportion of 5 to 60 percent by weight of total weight of organic compounds in the solid polymer electrolyte.
- 9. The interpenetrating network solid polymer electrolyte of claim 3, wherein said crosslinking agent is contained in a proportion of 10 to 40 percent by weight of total weight of organic compounds in the solid polymer electrolyte.
- 10. The interpenetrating network solid polymer electrolyte of claim 4, wherein said monomeric compound exists in a proportion of 10 to 50 percent by weight of total weight of organic compounds in the solid polymer electrolyte.
- 11. The interpenetrating network solid polymer electrolyte of claim 4, wherein said monomeric compound exists in a proportion of 15 to 40 percent by weight of total weight of organic compounds in the solid polymer electrolyte.
- 12. The interpenetrating network solid polymer electrolyte of claim 1, wherein said at least one metal salt is a lithium salt.
- 13. An interpenetrating network polymer electrolyte of claim 12, wherein said lithium salt comprises one or more of the following: LiClO4, LiBF4, LiAsF6, LiPF6, LiCF3SO3, Li(CF3SO2)2N, Li(CF3SO2)3C, LiN(SO2C2F5) 2, lithium alkyl fluorophosphates and a mixture thereof.
- 14. The interpenetrating network solid polymer electrolyte of claim 12, wherein molar ratio of said lithium salt relative to the total molar concentration of oxygen in all of the organic compounds in the polymer electrolyte is 0.01 to 0.2.
- 15. The interpenetrating network solid polymer electrolyte of claim 1, wherein said at least one radical reaction initiator is a thermal initiator.
- 16. The interpenetrating network polymer electrolyte of claim 15, wherein the thermal initiator is selected from azo compounds, peroxide compounds, bismaleimide and mixtures thereof.
- 17. The interpenetrating network polymer electrolyte of claim 16, wherein said azo compounds include azoisobutyronitrile.
- 18. The interpenetrating network polymer electrolyte of claim 16, wherein said peroxide compounds include benzoylperoxide.
- 19. The interpenetrating network polymer electrolyte of claim 1, wherein said electrolyte is incorporated into a porous medium.
- 20. The interpenetrating network polymer electrolyte of claim 19, wherein said porous medium is selected from polyolefin separator, polyolefin nonwoven type separator and polycarbonate microporous membrane.
- 21. A method for preparing the interpenetrating network polymer electrolyte of claim 1, comprising the steps of:
a) dissolving a lithium salt and a radical initiator in a branched siloxane polymer; mixing at least one crosslinking agent and a monomeric compound with the resulting solution; b) casting the resulting mixture onto a substrate; and placing the cast liquid film in an oven or a heating medium such as hot plate for solidification thereof.
- 22. The method of claim 21 wherein said substrate is a porous medium.
- 23. The method of claim 21 wherein said substrate is a surface of an electrode.
- 24. A lithium ion rechargeable cell comprising of at least one lithium metal or lithium alloy anode, the solid polymer electrolyte of claim 1, and at least one metal oxide cathode.
- 25. A lithium rechargeable cell comprising at least one carbon anode, interpenetrating network solid polymer electrolyte of claim 1, and at least one metal oxide cathode.
- 26. A method for assembling a lithium rechargeable cell with the solid polymer electrolyte, comprising the steps of:
a) coating at least one branched siloxane polymer having one or more poly(alkylene oxide) as a side chain, at least one crosslinking agent, at least one monofunctional monomeric compound for controlling crosslinking density, at least one metal salt and at least one radical reaction initiator onto one or more surfaces of a porous supporter, a cathode laminate and anode laminate; b) curing the precursor solution to make solid polymer electrolyte; c) stacking each components including porous supporter, cathode laminate and anode laminate; d) winding or folding the stacked components to prepare spiral wound cell or prismatic cell; and e) packaging the cell in a metal can, plastic pouch or foil-plastic laminated pouch.
- 27. A method for assembling a lithium ion rechargeable cell with the solid polymer electrolyte, comprising the steps of:
a) coating at least one branched siloxane polymer having one or more poly(alkylene oxide) as a side chain, at least one crosslinking agent, at least one monofunctional monomeric compound for controlling crosslinking density, at least one metal salt and at least one radical reaction initiator onto one or more surfaces of a porous supporter, a cathode laminate and an anode laminate; b) stacking each component including said porous supporter, said cathode laminate and said anode laminate; c) winding or folding the stacked components to prepare spiral wound cell or prismatic cell; d) curing the cell to change the precursor solution to solid polymer electrolyte; and packaging the cell with metal can, plastic pouch, or foil-plastic laminated pouch..
- 28. A method for assembling a lithium rechargeable cell with the solid polymer electrolyte of claim 8, comprising the steps of:
a) stacking each component including a porous supporter, at least one cathode laminate and at least one anode laminate to assemble the cell; b) winding or folding the stacked components to prepare a spiral wound cell or prismatic cell; putting the cell in a metal can, plastic pouch or foil-plastic laminated pouch; injecting the mixture of the electrolyte components listed in claim 1 into the pre-assembled cell; and c) curing the cell to change the precursor solution to solid polymer electrolyte.
CONTRACTUAL ORIGIN OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The United States Government has rights in this invention pursuant to NIST ATP Award No. 70NANB043022 and Contract No. W-31-109-ENG-38 between the United States Department of Energy and the University of Chicago for the operation of Argonne National Laboratory.