Electro-Spun P(VDF-HFP)/Silica Composite Gel Electrolytes for High-Performance Lithium-Ion Batteries

This work presents a facile way to fabricate a polymer/ceramics composite gel electrolyte to improve the overall properties of lithium-ion batteries. Lithium salt-grafted silica was synthesized and mixed with P(VDF-HFP) to produce a nanofiber film by the electrostatic spinning method. After coating a layer of SiO₂ onto the surface of nanofibers through a sol-gel method, a composite nanofiber film was obtained. It was then immersed in plasticizer until saturation to make a composite gel electrolyte film. Electrochemical test results showed that the obtained gel electrolyte film shows high thermal stability (~450 °C), high ionic conductivity of 1.3 × 10^-3 S cm^-1 at 25 °C and a lithium-ion transference number of 0.58, and superior cycling stability, providing a new direction for manufacturing secondary batteries with higher safety and performance.