Enhancing ionic conductivity in composite polymer electrolytes with well-aligned ceramic nanowires

In contrast to conventional organic liquid electrolytes that have leakage, flammability and chemical stability issues, solid electrolytes are widely considered as a promising candidate for the development of next-generation safe lithium-ion batteries. In solid polymer electrolytes that contain polymers and lithium salts, inorganic nanoparticles are often used as fillers to improve electrochemical performance, structure stability, and mechanical strength. However, such composite polymer electrolytes generally have low ionic conductivity. Here we report that a composite polymer electrolyte with well-aligned inorganic Li+-conductive nanowires exhibits an ionic conductivity of 6.05 × 10−5 S cm-1 at 30 ∘C, which is one order of magnitude higher than previous polymer electrolytes with randomly aligned nanowires. The large conductivity enhancement is ascribed to a fast ion-conducting pathway without crossing junctions on the surfaces of the aligned nanowires. Moreover, the long-term structural stability of the polymer electrolyte is also improved by the use of nanowires. Fast ionic conductivity of solid electrolytes is a must in the development of next-generation solid-electrolyte-based lithium-ion batteries. Here the authors report that composite polymer electrolytes with well-aligned inorganic nanowires can achieve much larger conductivities than those without.