A high-performance flexible biopolymer-based Ce oxide composite electrolyte for lithium-ion battery dendrite reduction

We propose a novel solid-state composite polymer electrolyte (CPE) that includes Li7La2.5Ce0.5Zr2O12 (Ce-LLZO), chitosan (CS)/agar-agar (AA) polymer, polyethylene glycol (PEG) plasticizer, and LiClO4 salt. At 25 degrees C, the CPE3 formulation, consisting of 15 wt% Ce-LLZO, 60 wt% CS-AA, 15 wt% PEG, and 10 wt% LiClO4, demonstrated exceptional lithium (Li)-ion conductivity of 5.18 x 10-3 S cm-1 and an optimal transference number (TLi+) of 0.937. We assessed the electrochemical stability of CPE3 using linear sweep voltammetry, which revealed a maximum stability limit of 4.1 V (versus Li/Li+). In addition, the coin cell made with the Li||CPE3||NMC configuration had an amazing discharge capacity of 163 mAhg-1 and stayed stable for up to 100 cycles at 0.1 degrees C in room temperature. Conversely, when subjected to Li-plating/stripping cycles, the symmetric Li||CPE3||Li cell exhibited stability for 550 h and maintained a current density of 2.0 mA cm- 2. Compared to Li-metal, the proposed material exhibited reduced overpotential while simultaneously enhancing electrochemical stability.