CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Nowadays, electrical energy storage is one of the most critical issue to answer global warming by effectively replacing fossil energies by renewable ones. The Li-ion technology, widely studied and available on the market for multiple application is now reaching its limits and does not represent alone a viable option toward energetic transition. Therefore, the options currently under study are the use of metallic lithium as anode in the so-called ?post Li-ion technologies?. In particular, Li-Sulfur (Li-S) cells, by combining the low density and highly reactive metallic lithium to the abundant, low-cost and environmentally friendly sulfur, could give rise to a high capacity of 1675 mAh.g-1. However, Li?S batteries are subjected to lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) shuttling due to their high dissolution in liquid electrolyte, resulting in low columbic efficiency and poor cycling performance. Moreover, metallic Li shows serious safety issues derived from dendrite formation upon cycling. Therefore, replacement of liquid electrolytes with a Composite Polymer Electrolyte (CPE) has been recognized as a fundamental approach to effectively address above problems. The preparation of a methacrylate-based polymer matrix, in a solvent free, thermally induced, radical polymerization, encompassing inorganic additive and swollen in liquid electrolyte allowed to obtain PCE with outstanding characteristics for metallic lithium batteries. This particular polymerization technique allowed to reach proportions of inorganic additive as high as 80 wt% without losing the membrane mechanical properties. The use of inorganic additive permits to enhance mechanical properties thus avoiding lithium dendrites nucleation and stabilizing Li stripping/platting, hence greatly improving the cell safety.