New, ionic liquid-based membranes for lithium battery application

New types of dimensionally stable, flexible gel-type electrolyte membranes with a relatively wide electrochemical stability, high lithium ion conductivity and other desirable properties have been prepared by immobilizing N-n-butyl-N-ethylpyrrolidinium N,N-bis(trifluoromethane)sulfonimide-lithium N,N-bis(trifluoromethane)sulfonimide (Py24TFSI-LiTFSI), ionic liquid, IL, solutions in a poly(vinylidene fluoride)-hexafluoropropylene copolymer (PVdF-HFP) matrix. The addition of a discrete amount of ethylene and propylene carbonate (EC–PC), solvent mixture to the membranes resulted in an improvement of the ionic conductivity and in a stabilization of the interface with the lithium electrode. These IL-based gel type membranes can operate without degradation up to a temperature of 110 °C where they reach conductivity values of the order of 10−2 S cm−1. All these properties make these polymer electrolyte membranes of interest for applications as separators in advanced lithium batteries.