An autonomous self-healing mechanism to improve the chemical durability vs. moisture of PVDF-based gel electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are at the forefront of electrochemical energy storage both for consumer electronics, and for power/energy more demanding applications, such as in automotive and grid levelling. However, their chemical and electrochemical stability must be further improved. Among the instability causes, a major role is played by residual moisture. As a matter of fact, hydrofluoric acid generated by hydrolysis of LiPF₆, the most common lithium salt in LIBs, causes safety issues and performance losses. Here we demonstrate the scavenging properties vs. HF of a barium silicate glass used as a filler in a PVDF-HFP based gel polymer electrolyte. A full LiTi₂(PO₄)₃|electrolyte|LiMn₂O₄ cell is stable for 200 cycles at 0.1C.