Fluoropolymer/ceramic matrix as a polymer electrolyte in Li-ion batteries: a case study on the influence of polyether into PVdF/BaTiO3 matrix via immersion precipitation

The influence of polyether compound on the preparation of composite polymer electrolyte (CPE) membrane based on poly(vinylidene difluoride) (PVdF) matrix via spinning cum immersion precipitation technique is investigated with different weight ratios of polyethylene glycol (PEG-6000). The addition of polyether compound into the composite polymer matrix is found to improve the physico-chemical properties such as porosity, electrolyte absorption, and ionic conductivity of the resultant membranes. The maximum ionic conductivity of the fabricated PVdF(80%)/PEG(10%)/BaTiO3(5%) based LiFePO4|B2-CPE|Li system is determined to be 9.4 mS cm−1 at room temperature that is favorable for exhibiting good electrochemical performances. The Li+ transference number is computed to be 0.23 for B2 composite polymer electrolyte based symmetric cell. At 0.2C rate, the LiFePO4|B2-CPE|Li cell showed a good discharge capacity of 144.3 mAh g−1 and improved the capacity retention up to 98.4% after 50 cycles. The findings suggest that the porous composite PVdF electrolyte is a promising candidate for lithium-ion batteries.