Functional Polymer for Battery Applications

Dear Colleagues,

Batteries are of utmost importance in our society to store electricity and power many applications from small electronics to large-scale stationary wind and solar farms. Today, lithium-ion devices are the most predominant solutions for most of these applications but suffer from strong safety issues due to the presence of flammable liquid electrolyte (leaks, fires, explosions). Therefore, replacing the conventional liquid-based electrolyte with a polymeric electrolyte material is a promising strategy. Indeed, by nature, polymers are safe, flexible, and can be produced in various shapes. For a battery application, the polymer electrolyte acts as both an ion conductor and electrode separator as well as functional binder in the electrode. Taking advantage of their capabilities to complex and solvate salt, these materials are studied as alkali and alkaline earth metal-ion conductors because they can provide new promising avenues to develop post-Li-ion technologies. This involves alkali and alkaline earth metal-ion (Li⁺, Na⁺, Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺) polymer electrolytes and their associated composite electrolyte, i.e., incorporating inorganic fillers, as well as functional separation membranes. In particular, polymer synthesis, electrolyte formulation, thermodynamic and thermomechanical properties, morphology, transport properties (conductivity, diffusion coefficient, transference number), and electrochemical characterizations of interfacial reactivity represent some fundamental aspects that must be analyzed to finely understand the relationships between the structure and the properties of the functional polymers.

These functional polymers find their applications in batteries based on Li, Na, Mg, or Ca chemistries including Li metal polymer, lithium–sulfur, and all-solid-state, as well as redox flow batteries, to name a few. Indeed, the lifespan, performance, and cost of the battery depends on the chemical composition and properties of the employed functional polymer.

This Special Issue of the journal Polymers (MDPI) led by researchers, an Assistant Professor, and a Professor from the Laboratory of Electrochemistry and Physico-Chemistry of Materials and Interfaces (LEPMI), affiliated with the University of Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble Institute of Technology and the CNRS, aims to gather high-quality original research as well as reviews or short reviews in the rapidly expanding field of functional polymers for battery applications using alkali and alkaline earth metal ions.

Dr. Didier Devaux
Dr. Fannie Alloin
Dr. Renaud Bouchet
Dr. Cristina Iojoiu
Dr. Lauréline Lecarme
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• Batteries
• All-solid-state battery
• Polymer electrolyte
• Composite electrolyte
• Alkali and alkaline earth metal-ion conductor
• Redox flow membrane
• Redox flow electrolyte
• Transport properties
• Interfaces