Polymer electrolyte for lithium batteries based on photochemically crosslinked poly(ethylene oxide) and ionic liquid

Polymer/ionic liquid composites were investigated as solvent-free electrolytes for lithium batteries. Ternary electrolytes based upon poly(ethylene oxide), an ionic liquid and a conducting salt were UV crosslinked with benzophenone as the photoinitiator. Crosslinking leads to an increase in mechanical stability of the PEO composites. This straight-forward process provides a way to increase the content of ionic liquid and thus to raise ionic conductivity without loss of mechanical stability. Impedance measurements showed that the ionic conductivity of the composites is not affected by the UV curing process. Moreover, the UV curing process causes a decrease in the degree of crystallinity in the PEO composites which contributes to an increase in ionic conductivity. The present work is related to safety issues of lithium batteries.