SusChEM: Nonflammable, Highly Conductive Ionic Liquid based Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Electrolytes for Lithium Batteries

锂离子电池具有巨大的潜力，可以减少运输对化石燃料的依赖，并在推动美国走向可持续、清洁能源的未来方面发挥关键作用。电解液是电池的重要组成部分，允许电荷在两个电极之间流动。锂离子电池通常使用挥发性有机溶剂和盐的混合物作为电解液，这带来了潜在的安全和可靠性问题。本研究将开发一类新型的不可燃有机-无机杂化锂离子电解液。这项研究将有助于人们更好地理解离子传导的基本机制和固体电解质的电化学性质。研究计划的科学方面将与科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)领域的更广泛的推广和教育倡议相结合。此外，该项目还将包括与韩国首尔国立大学的国际合作，为学生提供宝贵的国际研究和教育经验。这项研究将涉及基于离子液体的不可燃固态锂离子电解质。该项目包括离子液体栓系多面体低聚倍半硅氧烷(POSS-IL)与锂盐(LiTSFI)的合成、表征和离子传输。这项研究将探索调节阳离子结构和固定化阴离子之间的相互作用如何影响离子电导率和电化学性质。该项目将包括电解液化学结构的系统变化，以获得对分子结构(例如阳离子结构和固定化阴离子)如何影响锂离子电导率和电化学性质的基本见解。合成工作将与拉曼光谱、电化学性质和电池性能测量紧密结合，以创建结构-性质-性能关系的完整图景。介电光谱学将被用来揭示离子解离和传输的机制。该项目将从根本上理解分子结构和离子传输之间的关系。

Lithium ion batteries have great potential to reduce dependence on fossil fuels for transportation and play a critical role in moving the U.S. toward a sustainable, clean energy future. The electrolyte, an essential component of a battery, allows the flow of electrical charge between the electrodes. Lithium-ion batteries typically use a mixture of volatile organic solvents and salts as electrolytes, which creates potential safety and reliability concerns. This research will develop a new class of nonflammable organic-inorganic hybrid Li-ion electrolytes. The research will lead to improved understanding of fundamental mechanisms of ion conduction and electrochemical properties of the solid-state electrolytes. The scientific aspects of the research program will be integrated with broader outreach and educational initiatives in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Additionally, this project will include international collaboration with Seoul National University in South Korea to give the students valuable experience in the international research and education. This research will address ionic liquid-based nonflammable, solid-state Li-ion electrolytes. The project includes synthesis, characterization, and ion transport in ionic liquid tethered polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS-IL) mixtures with lithium bistrifluoromethanesulfonimidate) salts (LiTSFI). The research will explore how tuning the interactions between the cationic structures and immobilized anions could affect ionic conductivity and electrochemical properties. The project will include the systematic variation of chemical structures of electrolytes to gain fundamental insight into how molecular structures, e.g. cationic structures and immobilized anions, affect lithium ion conductivity and electrochemical properties. The synthetic effort will be closely coupled with Raman spectroscopy, electrochemical property and battery performance measurements to create a complete picture of structure-property-performance relationships. Dielectric spectroscopy will be utilized to uncover the mechanisms of ion dissociation and transport. The project will generate fundamental understanding of the relationship between molecular structure and ion transport.