Microporous gel electrolytes based on amphiphilic poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) for lithium batteries

Poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) grafted poly(poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate) (PVDF-HFP-g-PPEGMA) is simply prepared by single-step synthesis directly via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (PEGMA) from poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP). Thermal, mechanical, swelling and electrochemical properties, as well as microstructures of the prepared polymer electrolytes, are evaluated and the effects of the various contents and average molecular weights of PEGMA on those properties are also been investigated. By phase inversion technique, the copolymer membranes tend to form well-defined microporous morphology with the increase of content and average molecular weight of PEGMA, due to the competition and cooperation between the hydrophilic PEGMA segments and hydrophobic PVDF-HFP. When these membranes are gelled with 1 M LiCF3SO3 in ethylene carbonate (EC)/propylene carbonate (PC) (1:1, v/v), their saturated electrolyte uptakes (up to 323.5%) and ion conductivities (up to 2.01 × 10−3 S cm−1) are dramatically improved with respect to the pristine PVDF-HFP, ascribing to the strong affinity of the hydrophilic PEGMA segments with the electrolytes. All the polymer electrolytes are electrochemically stable up to 4.7 V versus Li/Li+, and show good mechanical properties. Coin cells based on the polymer electrolytes show stable charge–discharge cycles and deliver discharge capacities to LiFePO4 is up to 156 mAh g−1.