Crosslinked Poly(tetrahydrofuran) as a Loosely Coordinating Polymer Electrolyte

Solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) promise to improve the safety and performance of lithium ion batteries (LIBs). However, the low ionic conductivity and transference number of conventional poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)-based SPEs preclude their widespread implementation. Herein, crosslinked poly(tetrahydrofuran) (xPTHF) is introduced as a promising polymer matrix for "beyond PEO" SPEs. The crosslinking procedure creates thermally stable, mechanically robust membranes for use in LIBs. Molecular dynamics and density functional theory (DFT) simulations accompanied by Li-7 NMR measurements show that the lower spatial concentration of oxygen atoms in the xPTHF backbone leads to loosened O-Li+ coordination. This weakened interaction enhances ion transport; xPTHF has a high lithium transference number of 0.53 and higher lithium conductivity than a xPEO SPE of the same length at room temperature. It is demonstrated that organic additives further weaken the O-Li+ interaction, enabling room temperature ionic conductivity of 1.2 x 10(-4) S cm(-1) with 18 wt% N,N-dimethylformamide in xPTHF. In a solid-state LIB application, neat xPTHF SPEs cycle with near theoretical capacity for 100 cycles at 70 degrees C, with rate capability up to 1 C. The plasticized xPTHF SPEs operate at room temperature while maintaining respectable rate capability and capacity. The novel PTHF system demonstrated here represents an exciting platform for future studies involving SPEs.