Search

The development of the solid-state polymer electrolytes (SPEs) for Li-ion batteries (LIBs) can effectively address the hidden safety issues of commercially used liquid electrolytes. Nevertheless, the unsatisfactory room temperature ion conductivity and inferior mechanical strength for linear PEO-based SPEs are still the immense obstacles impeding the further applications of SPEs for large-scale commercialization. Herein, we fabricate a series of semi-interpenetrating-network (semi-IPN) polymer electrolytes based on a novel liquid crystal (C6M LC) and poly(ethylene glycol) diglycidyl ether (PEGDE) via UV-irradiation at the first time. The LCs not only highly improve the mechanical properties of electrolyte membranes via the construction of network structure with PEGDE, but also create stable ion transport channels for ion conduction. As a result, a free-standing flexible SPE shows outstanding ionic conductivity (5.93 × 10−5 S cm−1 at 30 °C), a very wide electrochemical stability window of 5.5 V, and excellent thermal stability at thermal decomposition temperatures above 360 °C as well as the capacity of suppressing lithium dendrite growth. Moreover, the LiFePO4/Li battery assembled with the semi-IPN electrolyte membranes exhibits good cycle performance and admirable reversible specific capacity. This work highlights the obvious advantages of LCs applied to the electrolyte for the advanced solid lithium battery.

A kind of organosulfur cathode (S–Fferrocene acetylene–dbCNT) is prepared. Unlike traditional composite cathodes, the cell with this cathode is free of long-chain polysulfides during the cycling process, thus effectively suppressing the shuttle effect.

A new type of polymeric nanomicelle-based nanoagent (denoted as PT@MFH hereafter) capable of the highly sensitive release of the chemotherapeutic drug paclitaxel (PTX) upon exposure to a near-infrared (NIR) laser trigger was developed. Specifically, PTX and a photothermal polymer (T-DPPT) were encapsulated in the cavity of nanomicelles, which were constructed from an amphiphilic block copolymer (PCL-PEEP) with a lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of ∼54 °C. Owing to the unprecedented ability of the T-DPPT moiety to harvest near-infrared light, with a mass extinction coefficient at 808 nm of up to ∼80.8 L g

Lithium metal batteries hold promise for energy storage applications but suffer from uncontrolled lithium dendrites. In this study, a new composite membrane based on modified natural polymer and ZIF-67 is designed and prepared by the in situ composite method for the first time. Among them, a modified natural polymer composed of lithium alginate (LA) and polyacrylamide (PAM) can be obtained by electrospinning. Importantly, the polar functional groups of natural polymers can interact by hydrogen bonding and MOFs can construct lithium-ion transport channels. Consequently, compared with LA-PAM electrolyte without MOF, the electrochemical stability window of ZIF-67-LA-PAM electrolyte becomes wider from 4.5 to 5.2 V, and the lithium-ion transference number (t

Background: Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) is one of the highly malignant tumors threatening human health. The current research aimed to identify potential prognostic gene biomarkers for HCC. Materials and Methods: Microarray data of gene expression profiles of HCC from GEO were downloaded. After screening overlapping differentially expressed genes (DEGs) by R software. The STRING database and Cytoscape were used to identify hub genes. Cox proportional hazards regression was performed to screen the potential prognostic genes. Moreover, quantitative real-time PCR analyses were performed to detect the expression of ANLN in liver cancer cells and tissues. Finally, its possible pathways and functions were predicted using gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA). Result: A total of 566 DEGs were obtained from the overlapping analysis of three mRNA microarray dataset. Six key hub genes including RACGAP1, KIF20, DLGAP5, CDK1, BUB1B and ANLN, were associated with poor prognosis of patients with HCC. Higher expression of ANLN was associated with reduced overall survival and disease-free survival in patients with HCC. Multivariate analysis revealed that ANLN expression was an independent risk factor affecting overall survival. RT-PCR and Western blot analysis further demonstrated that ANLN expression was increased in HCC compared with patient-matched adjacent normal tissues. Notably, Gene enrichment analysis revealed that DEGs in ANLN-high patients were enriched in cell cycle, DNA duplication and p53 signaling pathway. Conclusion: The high expression of RACGAP1, KIF20, DLGAP5, CDK1, BUB1B and ANLN might be poor prognostic biomarkers in HCC patients, and may help to individualize the management of HCC.

Background and Aim This single‐arm, open‐label, multicenter, phase 3 trial evaluated the efficacy and safety of seraprevir, an hepatitis C virus (HCV) nonstructural protein 3/4A (NS3/4A) inhibitor, combined with sofosbuvir for treating Chinese patients with chronic HCV infection without cirrhosis. Methods Treatment‐naive or interferon‐experienced adult patients without cirrhosis were treated with a universal, combinational regimen of seraprevir 100 mg, twice daily and sofosbuvir 400 mg, once daily, for 12 or 24 weeks. The primary efficacy endpoint was sustained virologic response at week 12 after treatment (SVR12). Results Overall, 205 patients with genotype 1 HCV infection without cirrhosis were enrolled from 23 sites, 202 of whom completed the full treatment and post‐treatment course and 3 discontinued follow‐up. In total, 27 patients (13.2%) were interferon experienced. SVR12 was achieved by 201 out of 205 (98.0% [95% CI, 95.1%, 99.5%]) patients, 100.0% of patients with genotype 1a, and 98.0% of genotype 1b. In the other exploratory study, SVR 12 was achieved by 100% patients with genotype 2 (n = 21), genotype 3 (n = 7), and genotype 6 (n = 8). The majority of adverse events were mild to moderate and transient and did not require a specific medical intervention. Conclusions The all‐oral, ribavirin‐free regimen of seraprevir and sofosbuvir is an effective and well‐tolerated treatment option for Chinese patients mono‐infected with HCV, including those with a history of interferon treatment.

遗传性血色病是一种铁代谢障碍性疾病，较为罕见。现报道1例转铁蛋白受体（TFR）2基因突变相关血色病患者，临床表现为皮肤色素沉着、糖尿病、肝硬化，血清铁蛋白（8 548.9 ng/ml）、转铁蛋白饱和度（116.77%）明显升高，肝活检示肝硬化，肝内铁沉积（重度Ⅳ级），对其血液标本进行全外显子捕获和高通量测序，并经Sanger测序验证，发现在TFR2基因10号和7号外显子上检测到2个杂合突变（c.1288G＞A，p.G430R和c.960T＞A，p.Y320X），前者已有文献报道与血色病的发病密切相关；后者罕见报道，是TFR2基因新变异点，该突变可使肽链终止。.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has set the goal of eliminating hepatitis as a threat to public health by 2030. Blocking mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of hepatitis B virus (HBV) is not only the key to eliminating viral hepatitis, but also a hot issue in the field of hepatitis B prevention and treatment. To standardize the clinical management of preventing MTCT of HBV and achieve zero HBV infection among infants, the Chinese Foundation for Hepatitis Prevention and Control organized experts to compile a management algorithm for prevention of MTCT of HBV based on the latest research progress and guidelines, including 10 steps of pregnancy management and postpartum follow-up, among which screening, antiviral treatment, and infant immunization are its core components.

Porphyrins and their derivatives are a unique class of multifunctional and modifiable π-conjugated heterocyclic organic molecules, which have been widely applied in the fields of optoelectronic devices and catalysis. However, the application of porphyrins in polymer electrolytes for all-solid-state lithium-ion batteries (ASSLIBs) has rarely been reported. Herein, porphyrin molecules modified by polyether chains are used for composite solid-state polymer electrolytes (CSPEs) for the first time. The introduction of a modified porphyrin in an electrolyte can not only promote the electrochemical properties by constructing ordered ion channels via the intermolecular interaction between π-conjugated heterocyclic porphyrins, but also significantly improve the mechanical strength and interface contact between the electrolyte membrane and the lithium metal anode. Consequently, the all-solid-state batteries assembled by the modified porphyrin composite polymer electrolyte, LiFePO4 cathodes, and Li anodes deliver a higher discharge capacity of 158.2 mA h g-1 at 60 °C, 0.2 C, which remains at 153.6 mA h g-1 after 120 cycles with an average coulombic efficiency of ∼99.60%. Furthermore, the flexible porphyrin-based composite polymer electrolyte can also enable a Li || LiCoO2 battery to exhibit a maximum discharge capacity of 108.6 mA h g-1 at 60 °C, 0.1 C with an active material loading of 2-3 mg cm-2, which is unable to realize for the corresponding batteries with a pure PEO-based polymer electrolyte. This work not only broadens the application scope of porphyrins, but also proposes a novel method to fabricate CSPEs with improved electrochemical and mechanical properties, which may shed new light on the development of CSPEs for next-generation high-energy-density lithium-ion batteries.

Development of cellulose-based electrolytes can strongly reduce the cost of energy storage devices. However, the prepared cellulose-based electrolytes use high contents of liquid electrolytes, sacr...

Sulfur-rich polymers synthesized by inverse vulcanization are promising cathodes for Li-S batteries and can suppress the shuttle effect to improve the cycling properties of Li-S batteries. However, developing a sulfur-rich copolymer with new chemical functionality to enhance performance of Li-S batteries remains a huge challenge. In this report, a sulfur-rich polymer cathode containing ionic liquid segments named poly(sulfur-co-1-vinyl-3-allylimidazolium bromide) [poly(S-co-DVIMBr)] was obtained by the inverse vulcanization of S8 with DVIMBr and used as cathode for the first time. This sulfur-rich poly ionic liquid cathode showed effective suppression of the shuttle effect through joint effects of the stable chemical bonding of C-S and strong cation absorption for lithium polysulfides, which was confirmed by DFT calculations. In particular, the Li-S cell with poly(S-co-DVIMBr) cathode delivered high capacity retention of 90.22 % even over 900 cycles. Developing sulfur-rich poly ionic liquids may provide a new strategy of introducing the functional groups with cations into the cathode materials for suppressing the shuttle effect and improving the performance of Li-S batteries.

Background and Aims: Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remains a major public health problem globally. Here, we describe the baseline characteristics and treatment profiles of HBV-infected patients recruited to the China Registry of Hepatitis B. Methods: Inclusion criteria were patients with different stages of chronic HBV infection and complete key data. Exclusion criteria were patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. The baseline clinical, laboratory and treatment profiles were analyzed. Results: Finally, 40,431 patients were included. The median age was 43 years, with 65.2% being men and 51.3% being positive for hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg). The most common initial diagnosis was chronic hepatitis B (81.0%), followed by cirrhosis (9.3%), inactive carrier of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) (6.7%), and immune tolerant phase of hepatitis B infection (3.0%). Among the 21,228 patients who were on treatment, 88.0%, 10.0% and 2.0% received nucleos(t)ide analogues (NAs), interferon or combination of NAs and interferon, respectively. The proportion of patients who received preferred NAs (entecavir or tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) had increased from 13.5% in 2003 to 79.7% in 2016. Conclusions: We concluded that middle-aged men accounted for most of the patients with chronic hepatitis B in this cross-sectional study. About half of the patients were HBeAg-positive. NAs were the most commonly used therapy, and use of the preferred NAs had steadily increased in the past decade.

The original poly(ethylene oxide)-based polymer electrolytes normally show low ionic conductivity and inferior mechanical property, which greatly restrict their practical application in all-solid-state lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). In this work, a hyperbranched star polymer with poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate flexible chain segments is embedded into a three-dimensional (3D) interpenetrating cross-linking network created by the rapid one-step UV-derived photopolymerization of the cross-linker (ethoxylated trimethylolpropane triacrylate) in the presence of lithium salt. The rigid 3D network framework provides the polymer electrolyte with not only enhanced mechanical behavior, including film-forming and dendrite-inhibiting capabilities, but also nanoconfinement effects, which can speed up polymer chain segmental dynamics and reduce the crystallinity of the polymer. Depending on this unique rigid-flexible coupling network, the prepared solid polymer electrolyte shows enhanced ionic conductivity (6.8 × 10-5 S cm-1 at 50 °C), widened electrochemical stability window (5.1 V vs Li/Li+), and enough mechanical stability to suppress the growth of uneven Li dendrite (the Li symmetrical cells can operate steadily at both current densities of 0.05 and 0.1 mA cm-2 for 1000 h). Moreover, the assembled LiFePO4//Li cell also exhibited good cycle performance at 50 °C, making the hyperbranched star polymer electrolyte with a nanoconfined cross-linking structure to have potential application in high-safety and high-performance LIBs.

Lithium–sulfur batteries show high specific capacity and environmental friendliness. However, the shuttling effect and volumetric expansion of sulfur electrodes often lead to low Coulombic efficien...

A novel recyclable hyperbranched adsorbent for selective adsorption of Pb2+ ions is fabricated by a facile single-step crosslinking reaction. The as-synthesized adsorbent has porous structure and large of amino groups which beneficial for the removal of Pb2+ ions in aqueous solution and the removal efficiency is 99.2%. The result also indicates that adsorption ability of the obtained adsorbent increased with the increase of pH from 1 to 6 and temperature from 278 K to 308 K, respectively. The adsorption process of Pb2+ ions onto PPEI-2-AG followed the Langmuir isotherm model, and a kinetic study indicates that the process fitted pseudo-second order model well. The removal of Pb2+ ions by PPEI-2-AG is mainly controlled by the specific interactions between Pb2+ ions and amino functional groups, which could be further confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results demonstrate that PPEI-2-AG holds high potential in environmental remediation.

Fatty liver disease associated with metabolic dysfunction is of increasing concern in mainland China, the world's most populous country. The incidence of fatty liver disease is highest in China, surpassing the incidence in European countries and the USA. An international consensus panel recently published an influential report recommending a novel definition of fatty liver disease associated with metabolic dysfunction. This recommendation includes a switch in name from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) to metabolic (dysfunction)-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) and adoption of a set of positive criteria for disease diagnosis that are independent of alcohol intake or other liver diseases. Given the unique importance of this proposal, the Chinese Society of Hepatology (CSH) invited leading hepatologists and gastroenterologists representing their respective provinces and cities to reach consensus on alternative definitions for fatty liver disease from a national perspective. The CSH endorses the proposed change from NAFLD to MAFLD (supported by 95.45% of participants). We expect that the new definition will result in substantial improvements in health care for patients and advance disease awareness, public health policy, and political, scientific and funding outcomes for MAFLD in China.

A topological structural polymer is designed and synthesized by sequential living polymerization of pinacol vinylboronate and poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate using hyperbranched polystyrene as the core. The as-synthesized polymer containing lithium salt is casted onto the ceramic electrostatic spinning film to prepare the composite solid polymer electrolyte. As predicted, the electrolyte shows a high ionic conductivity of 9.63 × 10−5 S cm−1 at room temperature, which likely due to the creation of conductive network on the surfaces of the nanowires. In addition, introduction of poly(pinacol vinylboronate) segments onto the hyperbranched polymer strongly improves the electrochemical stability (reaches 5.2 V) of the electrolyte in comparison to the one without poly(pinacol vinylboronate) chains. As a result, the LiFeO4/Li cell using the electrolyte presents excellent long cycle stability at 50 °C (average discharge capacity of 130 mA h g−1 with coulombic efficiency close to 100% over 800 cycles at 0.5 C) as well as very good cell performance at room temperature (discharge capacity reaches 162 mAh g−1 with average coulombic efficiency of ∼100%). More importantly, we also confirm that the electrolyte can be applied to high-voltage cathode materials, such as LiCoO2 and Li1.2Mn0.5Ni0.2O2-based cathodes, which also shows satisfactory cell performance.

The advantages of solid-state polymer electrolytes (SPEs) such as ease of fabrication, high safety, good compatibility with Li metals make SPEs one of the most promising electrolyte materials for next generation high-performance and high-safety lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, the traditionally used PEO-based electrolytes usually exhibit very low ionic conductivity due to the high crystallinity of PEO, which impedes the commercialization of solid-state LIBs using PEO-based polymer electrolytes. In this study, an ‘alternative’ solid electrolyte material was prepared using a nematic liquid crystal (LC) and an ionic liquid (IL). Specifically, the LC with ordered layered nanostructures was polymerized and immobilized via UV-irradiation, while IL was sufficiently inserted into the ordered ion channels for fast transport ions. It should be noted that such a free-standing electrolyte film with stable ordered channels has been confirmed through the characterizations of DSC, POM, SEM and XRD. As a result, the solid electrolyte film shows superior comprehensive electrochemical performance in terms of a very high room temperature ionic conductivity (2.14 × 10−2 S cm−1), wide electrochemical window (4.8 V), and very good compatibility with lithium metal. Furthermore, the LiFePO4/Li cell using the ordered electrolyte film shows an average discharge capacity of 150 mA h g−1. Undoubtedly, our study provides a new solid electrolyte material that has the potential to be used in the next generation of high safety and high energy density LIBs.

Polyether-based materials, especially poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and derivatives thereof, have been extensively studied as Li-conducting all-solid-state polymer electrolytes (SPEs) for Li-based batteries due to their specific advantages such as easy fabrication, high safety, and outstanding compatibility with lithium salts. However, PEO-based polymers usually have too strong complexation ability with lithium ions and high crystallinity, resulting in a low lithium-ion transference number and room temperature ionic conductivity. In this study, we choose hyperbranched polyethylenimine (HPEI) as the core of a SPE matrix, while polyester segments as the arms through sequential ring-open polymerization (ROP) of glycolide (GC) and e-caprolactone (CL). Specifically, the HPEI core containing N atoms can promote the dissociation of lithium salts, while the polyester segments can effectively dissolve lithium salts and transport ions. Furthermore, the SPE (HPEI–PGC–PCL/LiTFSI) is cast onto a ceramic film containing ceramic nanowires to prepare a composite SPE (CSPE), which can further construct ion transport channels at the interface of the polymer and nanowires. Synergizing the advantages of HPEI–PGC–PCL and ceramic nanowires, the CSPE exhibits superior electrochemical performance. Especially, the LiFePO4/CSPE/Li cell exhibits a discharge capacity of 162 mA h g−1 at the C-rates of 0.2, 0.5 and 1C, and an average discharge capacity of 158 mA h g−1 with an average coulombic efficiency of 99.8% over 200 cycles at 0.5C. More importantly, the LiCoO2/CSPE/Li cell also shows very good cycling performance (reaches 130 mA h g−1 at a current density of 0.06 mA cm−2) and rate capacity (reaches 80 mA h g−1 at a current density of 0.3 mA cm−2). This work highlights a new and novel host material that has the potential to be used as a high performance all-solid-state electrolyte for solid-state batteries.

Lignin is an eco-friendly, low-cost, and abundant natural biopolymer. However, few studies have explored the potential application of lignin as electrolyte matrix for lithium-ion batteries or obtained excellent cell performance using lignin-based electrolyte. In this paper, lignin and poly(N-vinylimidazole)-co-poly(poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate) are mixed thoroughly in water, then a free-standing lignin-based film is obtained by casting and drying. The resulting film shows obviously higher mechanical strength (over 10 times) than that of the pure lignin film due to the construction of internal physical cross-linking network. Through activation of the prepared film by organic electrolyte, the membrane exhibits superior electrochemical performances (such as outstanding lithium-ion transfer number (0.63) and the ability to inhibit the growth of lithium dendrites). As a result, the LiFePO4/lignin-based electrolyte/Li cell presents excellent long cycle performance (∼150 mAh g–1 at 1 C more th...

All-solid-state polymer electrolyte (SPE) matrices prepared by molecular design are still needed to be further perfected with excellent performance. In this paper, a controlled-structure discotic liquid crystal (DLC)-based six-arm star copolymer was designed and synthesized from a DLC initiator (2,3,6,7,10,11-hexakis(2-bromoisobutyryloxy)triphenylene) via the sequential atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of styrene and poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (PEGMA). Here, this class of discotic liquid crystal star polymer is applied as an SPE in LIBs for the first time. By solution casting, a suitable self-standing SPE film composed of the six-arm copolymer and lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonimide (LiTFSI)) can be easily formed, and the film shows long-range molecular orientation after annealing. It is confirmed that the electrolyte shows wide electrochemical window (5.1 V) and high lithium-ion transference number (0.37). Especially, the ionic conductivity (1.46 × 10−4, S cm−1, 30 °C) of the obtained SPE is more than 8 times higher than that of the corresponding linear copolymer electrolytes. Furthermore, the results of battery performance demonstrate that the polymer electrolyte displays eminently reversible electrochemical reaction and outstanding cycling performance. The present work not only shows the advantages of DLC-based star SPE for LIBs but also paves the way for the design of SPE with excellent performances.

Polymeric ionic liquid electrolytes have received great attention for use in next-generation solid lithium-ion batteries. However, most polymeric ionic liquid electrolytes require a high proportion of organic liquid plasticizer to improve the room temperature ionic conductivity. This comes at the expense of sacrificing the mechanical strength of the electrolytes. In addition, it is also difficult to establish a clear relationship between polymeric ionic liquid segments and properties of the electrolyte. Here, a copolymeric ionic liquid poly(N-(1-vinylimidazolium-3-butyl)-ammonium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide)-co-poly(poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate) is synthesized and the corresponding self-standing flexible all-solid electrolyte (PVIMTFSI-co-PPEGMA/LiTFSI) is prepared via a solution-casting method. The effect of the polymeric ionic liquid segments on comprehensive properties of the electrolyte is investigated in detail by comparing the performance of PVIMTFSI-co-PPEGMA/LiTFSI with PVIM-co-PPEGMA/LiTFSI (poly(N-vinlyimidazole)-co-poly(poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate) based electrolyte) which contains un-ionized imidazole groups. As a result, the electrochemical window slightly decreases from 5.5 V to 5.3 V, but the ionic conductivity and interfacial behavior are both greatly improved. In Particular, the polymeric ionic liquid segments can restrain the formation of lithium dendrites. Moreover, a discharge capacity of 136 mAh g−1 at 0.1 C can be realized for the PVIMTFSI-co-PPEGMA/LiTFSI-based LiFePO4/Li battery that is maintained at approximately 70 mAh g−1 at 1 C at 60 °C, which is superior to that obtained for the PVIM-co-PPEGMA/LiTFSI electrolyte.

The trade-off between ionic conductivity and mechanical strength is still a great challenge for all-solid-state polymer electrolyte. Herein, a novel structure-controlled fluorine-containing star-branched polymer (HBPS-(PTFEMA-b-PPEGMA)27) with a hyperbranched polystyrene core and polytrifluoroethyl methacrylate-block-poly (ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate arms is synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization. Combining the good mechanical strength of fluorine-containing segments and flexible property of PEG segments, the prepared HBPS-(PTFEMA-b-PPEGMA)27/LiTFSI solid polymer electrolyte can form flexible transparent self-standing membrane and exhibits the high ionic conductivity of 2.4 × 10−5 S cm-1 at 25 °C, as well as good thermal stability with the thermal decomposition temperature of 374.7 °C. It also possesses a wide electrochemical window of 4.9 V and good interfacial compatibility. Moreover, the Li/LiFePO4 cell based on this solid state star-branched polymer electrolyte membrane delivers a high discharge capacity of 147.2 mAh g−1 under a current density of 0.1C at 60 °C.

Solid-state polymer electrolytes (SPEs) have gained considerable attention in the application of all-solid-state lithium batteries (ASSLBs), but the low ionic conductivity at room temperature and inferior interfacial compatibility largely drag the practical development of SPEs. Herein, a ketone-containing poly(allyl acetoacetate) (PAAA) based polymer electrolyte is designed and prepared for the first time. The structure of ester and ketone groups provides PAAA polymers with not only strong dissociation of lithium salts but also weak coordination interactions with Li+ ions. Thus the prepared PAAA polymer electrolytes show excellent ion conductive behavior with ionic conductivity as high as 1.1 × 10-4 S cm−1 at 30 °C. Moreover, the PAAA polymer electrolytes still maintain superior viscoelasticity without compromising mechanical integrity. When assembling cells, the reduction-tolerant poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) polymer electrolytes are employed as interlayers between the PAAA SPEs and lithium electrodes in order to improve interfacial stability. As a result, the hierarchical polymer electrolytes possess wide electrochemical window above 4.8 V, thus matching well with LiFePO4 or Li1.2Ni0.2Mn0.6O2 high-voltage cathode. The hierarchical structure does not affect interfacial contact, and the Li/PEO-PAAA-PEO/Li cells show low interfacial resistance and stable striping/plating behavior for at least 500 h at 0.2 mA cm−2 and 60 °C. This study enriches carbonyl-based polymer electrolytes by allying ketone with ester groups, and provides guidance for designing novel high-performance polymer electrolytes for practical application.

Almost all the traditional ionic liquids lack liquid crystal properties. Only a small number of ionic liquids show liquid crystal properties, which can be named as ionic liquid crystals (ILCs). The liquid crystal characteristics of ILCs endow them with good ordering. More specifically, the ILC macroscopic alignment of phase-segregated ordered nanostructures can be considered as ion pathways and further fixed by photopolymerization to fabricate nanostructured ion-conductive electrolyte films. However, there are no reports using ILC-based solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) for solid-state polymer lithium batteries (SSPLBs). Here, a free-standing and flexible SPE through photopolymerization of ILC/poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate/poly(ethylene glycol) dimethyl ether/LiBF4 for SSPLBs was first designed and then successfully prepared. The as-obtained ILC-based SPE exhibits superior comprehensive electrochemical properties in terms of high ionic conductivity (1.96 × 10−4 S cm−1, 30 °C) and a wide electrochemical window (5.2 V). Particularly, the SPE delivers a high transference number of Li+ (0.6) due to the construction of ion channels for efficient transport of Li+. More importantly, the SPE also shows good interface contact with electrodes and can effectively suppress the growth of lithium dendrites. Thus, ILC-based SPE LiFePO4/Li cells present excellent long cycling stability (the average discharge capacity is ∼164 mA h g−1 with coulombic efficiency close to 100% throughout 375 cycles at 0.2 C) and superior rate capability at room temperature. Even at 0 °C, the SSPLBs can run very well. Our study opens a new way for ILC-based SPE to be practically applied in SSPLBs and also provides major progress on addressing the challenges of room temperature/low temperature SSPLBs.

Extensive attention has been paid to metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) in the fields of gas storage/separation, sensors, catalysis, drug delivery and so on. However, the potential application of MOFs as electrolytes in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) still needs to be further studied. In this study, showcased as the first example in the domain of all-solid-state electrolytes, a MOF covalently linked by flexible polymer chains toward a flexible stand-alone hybrid all-solid-state polymer electrolyte (HSPE) film is prepared by one-pot UV photopolymerization. Specifically, the precursors of the HSPE are composed of vinyl functionalized MOF (M-UiO-66-NH2) nanoparticles, poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA), a lithium salt and a photoinitiator. It is confirmed that HSPE-1-8 (mM-UiO-66-NH2 : mPEGDA = 1 : 8) possesses over 5 times higher ionic conductivity (4.31 × 10−5 S cm−1 at 30 °C) and much better interfacial contact with Li electrodes than the SPE without incorporation of the vinyl functionalized MOF. Furthermore, at room temperature, the assembled cell of Li/HSPE-1-8/LiFePO4 exhibits outstanding rate capacity (it can reach 140, 124 and 80 mA h g−1 at 0.2, 0.5 and 1C, respectively) and excellent long cycle performance. Meanwhile, the solid cell can also be well run at 60 °C (the discharge capacity reaches 110 mA h g−1 at 2C). Combined with the superior low/high temperature performance of the cell, it is believed that the MOF-based hybrid SPE can be one of the most promising high-safety and high performance electrolytes for LIBs.

Functional liquid crystal polymers have attracted much attention as new all-solid-state polymer electrolytes due to their ability of orientation. In this paper, a hyperbranched star liquid crystal polymer (HSLCP) electrolyte for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is developed for the first time. This type of HSLCP bears a hyperbranched poly(glycidol) (HPG) as core, poly-e-caprolactone (PCL) and poly (4-cyano-biphenyl methylmethacrylate) ((LC) x ) compose the block arms of the HSLCP. (LC) x segments, one part of the arms, are assisted to promote transmission of Li-ion via orientation and PCL segments are used to dissociate lithium salt and efficiently migrate charge carriers. The good self-standing all-solid-state polymer electrolyte film composed of HSLCP and lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonimide (LiTFSI) can be formed by solution casting method. It is demonstrated that such a HSLCP exhibits good thermal stability (368°C), the HSLCP-based electrolyte shows high ionic conductivity (5.98 × 10 −5 S cm −1 at 30°C), outstanding ion transference number (0.63), and wide electrochemical window (5.12 V). In addition, LiFePO 4 /Li batteries employing the electrolyte deliver good cycling performance and rate capability. Simultaneously, the corresponding half-cell can still power a LED lamp at room temperature. Thus, this is a great progress for liquid crystal-based polymer electrolytes to be applied to high energy LIBs.

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries have attracted a lot of attention because of their high energy density, low cost, and environmental friendliness. However, shuttle effect is one of the most obstacles to make the poor cycling performance and inhibit the development of Li-S batteries. Herein, a kind of large oxygen-containing polymer coated cathode, named polyurethane coated carbon-nanotube/sulfur composites (PU@S-CNT), is prepared from sulfur capsulated by the reaction of hyperbranched polyether and diisocyanate via a simple “one-pot” strategy to impede the shuttle effect. This PU@S-CNT cathode can not only inhibit the dissolution of lithium polysulfides by physical barrier, but also can absorb the lithium polysulfides by the chemical effect. Especially, the cell with PU@S-CNT electrode shows an excellent initial cycling capacity of 892 mAh g−1 at 2C and remarkable capacity retention (a low decay rate of 0.051% per cycle at 2C after 450 cycles). More importantly, this coated cathode (PU@S-CNT) demonstrates a good inhibition of shuttle effect, high transmission speed of lithium ion and good cycle reversibility. This work exhibits the cross-linked hyperbranched polyurethane is used as coatings of the sulfur cathode for the first time, which can reveal a potential prospect of high-level heteroatom doped coated cathodes for high-performance lithium-sulfur batteries.

Here, two type of composite star polymer electrolytes enhanced by carbon nano-tube (CNT) or fullerene (C60) prepared through a solution-casting technique are investigated. The as-prepared free-standing carbon nano-composite polymer electrolyte membranes exhibit excellent comprehensive performances including high thermal stability (initial thermal degradation temperatures about 383 °C) and good electrochemical properties. However, different carbon nanomaterials bring different influence on electrochemical performances of composite polymer electrolytes. The ionic conductivity of carbon nanotube composite polymer electrolyte (HBPS-(PMMA-b-PPEGMA)30/CNT/LiTFSI) is higher than that of fullerene composite polymer electrolyte. The highest ionic conductivity of HBPS-(PMMA-b-PPEGMA)30/CNT/LiTFSI electrolyte can reach 1.06 × 10−5 S cm−1 at 30 °C and lithium-ion transference number reaches 0.52. In addition, two types of carbon nano-composite star polymer electrolytes both exhibit wide electrochemical window with oxidation potential above 5.2 V, good interfacial stability and interfacial compatibility. Moreover, assembled Li/LiFePO4 cells based on HBPS-(PMMA-b-PPEGMA)30/CNT/LiTFSI electrolytes possess good specific capacity with the highest value of 133 mAhh g−1, while the cells based on HBPS-(PMMA-b-PPEGMA)30/C60/LiTFSI electrolytes show a great cycle stability.

A new composite polymer electrolyte membrane composed of hyperbranched star polymers (HBPS-(PMMA-b-PPEGMA)30 (the hyperbranched star polymer with hyperbranched polystyrene as core and polymethyl methacrylate block poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate) as arms)), ionic liquid (1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (BMImBF4) or 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate (BMImPF6)), and lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl) imide (LiTFSI) has been fabricated by solution casting method. This type of solid polymer electrolyte membrane shows an excellent flexibility, transparency, and free-standing properties. Room temperature ionic conductivity of composite electrolytes with 40 wt% BMImBF4 or 40 wt% BMImPF6 can reach 2.5 × 10−4 and 4.1 × 10−5 S cm−1, respectively. The HBPS-(PMMA-b-PPEGMA)30/BMImPF6/LiTFSI (the composite polymer electrolyte with 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate) composite polymer electrolyte displays better performances including a good thermal stability with decomposition temperature of 350 °C, a wide electrochemical window with oxidation potential of 4.3 V, and the excellent interfacial compatibility with lithium electrode. Moreover, the Li/LiFePO4 batteries based on HBPS-(PMMA-b-PPEGMA)30/BMImPF6/LiTFSI electrolyte retain about 96% of their highest discharge capacity (120.5 mAh g−1) after 100 cycles under a current density of 0.1 C at 60 °C, exhibiting the excellent reversible cyclability.

This research provides an effective approach to synthesize a hyperbranched star polymeric ionic liquid (HBPS-(PVIMBr)x) with a hyperbranched polystyrene core and poly(1-butyl-3-vinylimidazolium bromide) arms via a combination of atom transfer radical self-condensing vinyl polymerization (ATR-SCVP) and RAFT polymerization. The synthesis process ensures good structural controllability and consistency that all of the arms of the star polymers are ionized. The obtained star polymeric ionic liquid shows good thermal stability with initial thermal decomposition temperatures above 290 °C. Moreover, after anion exchange, the TFSI− anion based hyperbranched star polymeric ionic liquid (HBPS-(PVIMTFSI)x) is used as the all-solid polymer electrolyte for lithium-ion batteries. The electrolytes (HBPS-(PVIMTFSI)x/LiTFSI) fabricated by the solution casting method exhibit a high room temperature ionic conductivity (4.76 × 10−5 S cm−1, the quantitative ratio of LiTFSI to the polymer matrix is 40%), a wide electrochemical window (4.9 V) and great interfacial compatibility.

A new hyperbranched multi-arm star polymer with hyperbranched polystyrene (HBPS) as core and polymethyl methacrylate-block-poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate(PMMA-b-PPEGMA) as arms was firstly synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization. The obtained hyperbranched multi-arm star polymer (HBPS-(PMMA-b-PPEGMA)x) exhibited good thermal stability with a thermal decomposition temperature of 372 °C. The transparent, free-standing, flexible polymer electrolyte film of the blending of HBPS-(PMMA-b-PPEGMA)x and lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl) imide (LiTFSI) was successfully fabricated by a solution casting method. The ionic conductivity of the hyperbranched star polymer electrolyte with a molar ratio of [EO]/[Li] of 30 could reach 8.3 × 10−5 S cm−1 at 30 °C (with the content of PPEGMA of 83.7%), and 2.0 × 10−4 S cm−1 at 80 °C (with the content of PPEGMA of 51.6%). The effect of the concentration of lithium salts on ionic conductivity was also investigated. The obtained all-solid-state polymer electrolyte possessed a wide electrochemical stability window of 4.7 V (vs. Li+/Li), and a lithium-ion transference number (tLi+) up to 0.31. The interfacial impedance of the fabricated Li│polymer electrolyte│Li symmetric cell based on hyperbranched star multi-arm polymer electrolyte exhibited good interfacial compatibility between all-solid-state polymer electrolyte and electrodes. The excellent properties of the hyperbranched star polymer electrolyte made it attractive as solid-state polymer electrolyte for lithium-ion batteries.