Highly Stable Polymer Electrolytes for 5 Volt Lithium Batteries

The development of a truly solid state high power lithium battery is dependent upon the successful identification of a suitable solid polymer electrolyte. Polymer electrolytes hold the promise of allowing use of lithium metal anodes which could boost thetheoretcial energy density of batteries by as much as 35%. Addition of new high voltage cathodes would result in a high energy, high power lithium battery for a wide variety of applications.The proposed Phase II program builds on the successful Phase I effort which demonstrated a highly stable, corrosion inhibiting polymer electrolyte with good ionic conducivity and cation transference. The proposed Phase II effort will focus ontransitioning these materials into solid films with equivelent properties. A laboratory effort together with molecular modeling will ensure that the new polymer films retain the desirable properties demonstrated by the Phase I materials. Extensivechemical and electrochemical characterization of the new materials along with battery fabrication and evaluation are integral parts of the proposed effort.