Elastic Polymer Electrolytes Integrated with In Situ Polymerization-Transferred Electrodes toward Stretchable Batteries

Abstract

Stretchable Li-ion batteries (LIBs) are important potential power sources for flexible electronics. Here, we propose an integrated in situ polymerization-transfer strategy to construct intrinsically stretchable LIBs (is-LIBs). Specifically, a polymer electrolyte (PE) with chain-liquid synergistic effect by poly(ethylene glycol methyl ether acrylate)-ionic liquid/lithium salt has been developed, which facilitates rapid Li+ transport (10-4 S cm-1) and promotes mechanical flexibility (stretching over 5000%) due to the unique phase-separated structure of the PE and the ionic-bipolar interactions between the C=O-rich polymer and imidazolium cations. Additionally, Ag nanowires (AgNWs)/electrode materials are transferred to PDMS to construct intrinsically stretchable electrodes. The strong physical interaction between AgNWs/electrode materials and PDMS endows electrodes with a high strain of 100% and low sheet resistance of 0.9 Ω □-1. Finally, an is-LIB is achieved by in situ polymerization-transfer integration, showing good cycle and rate performance. The results suggest a new avenue for the development of stretchable energy storage devices.