Phosphonate-containing polymers as precursors of solid polymer electrolytes for lithium metal batteries

Batteries are recognized as one of the most important energy storage systems due to their high energy density. As one of the most promising next-generation high energy density storage devices, lithium metal batteries have reached momentum. However, the use of lithium metal meets many technical problems with conventional liquid electrolytes, which can be solved by using solid-state electrolytes. Solid-state electrolytes are thus a key component of all-solid-state lithium metal batteries, and their progress directly affects the industrialization of all-solid-state lithium metal batteries. The current research on solid-state electrolytes focuses on two major types of materials: polymers electrolytes and inorganic electrolytes. Polymer electrolytes are a promising class of materials due to their easy processing, lightweight, flexibility, and they provide a feasible solution to safety issues. In this thesis, we introduce phosphonate-containing polymers in polymer electrolytes. Those are very promising compounds because of their good thermal stability, their ability to bind to metals, and excellent flame retardancy. Those novel phosphonate-containing polymers used in polymer electrolytes could maintain the electrolyte-electrode contact interface, prevent the growth of lithium dendrites, increase the electrochemistry stability window, and improve battery safety because of fire-retardant property. This opens the possibility to safely apply Li-metal as a high-capacity anode, which could provide a valuable strategy towards high-performance all-solid-state lithium metal batteries.(SC - Sciences) -- UCL, 202