8. Plastic" lithium-ion batteries

It was inevitable that attempts would be made to apply work and results relating to polymer electrolytes to lithium-ion batteries. The result is the "plastic" lithium-ion battery. This is a lithium-ion battery in which the liquid electrolyte has been replaced by a polymer electrolyte, ideally with similar characteristics. What are the requirements? The polymer film must have a conductivity of the same order as that of the liquid electrolyte, while to benefit from the advantages of a plastic material, it must be flexible but mechanically resistant. However, it's at the electrolyte-electrode interfaces that the most severe difficulties are likely to arise, as good electrical contact is difficult to achieve in an "all-solid" configuration. The work carried out to date provides interesting additional information. The development of a polymer electrolyte with the required electrical and mechanical...