Hybrid gel polymer electrolyte fabricated by electrospinning technology for polymer lithium-ion battery

•Evenly hybrid membrane with ultrafine fibers could be prepared by through electrospinning.•HGPE showed acceptable mechanical properties with good electrochemical performance.•High electrochemical stability window made HGPE to be used in high voltage lithium-ion battery.•The assembled polymer lithium-ion battery showed good charge/discharge cycle stability.

In this paper, a kind of hybrid gel polymer electrolyte (HGPE) based on PVDF/PEO nanofibrous membrane was prepared by electrospinning technology. The thickness of the nanofibrous membranes was around 150 μm via the controlled procedure parameters. The microstructure of the nanofibrous membranes, the physical and electrochemical performances of the activated HGPEs were studied systematically by scanning electron microscope (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), AC impedance measurement and charge/discharge cycle test, etc. It was found that the properties of the nanofibrous membranes and the corresponding HGPEs varied with the relative weight ratio of the blending polymers. For HGPE, the most important character is its electrochemical performance. When the weight ratio of PVDF/PEO was 1:5, the maximum ionic conductivity of the prepared HGPE was 4.8 × 10−3 S cm−1 with electrochemical stability up to 4.8 V versus Li+/Li at room temperature, moreover the assembled polymer lithium-ion battery reserved 86% capacity after 60 cycles of charge and discharge tests. With good electrochemical performance, it is very suitable for being applied in polymer lithium-ion battery.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide