Ionic Liquid – Nanoporous Polymer Hybrid Electrolyte Membranes for Vehicle Lithium Ion Batteries

Electric drive vehicles can drastically improve fuel efficiency compared to internal combustion engines, but their performance and safety is limited by available battery technology. Rechargeable lithium and lithium-ion batteries can fail violently when they are overheated, crushed, overcharged / over discharged or they are subjected to an internal electrical short. The violent nature of these failures is exacerbated by their highly flammable conventional liquid electrolyte solvents. The goal of this project is to develop a high-performance non-flammable lithium electrolyte based on the combination of a non-flammable ionic liquid solvent and a novel nanoporous solid polymer material. This project will develop an ionic liquid – nanoporous polymer hybrid electrolyte that will be far safer than conventional electrolytes, have a high conductivity, the ability to safely operate at extreme temperatures and that can be used with a lithium metal anode in a rechargeable battery for electric vehicles. In Phase I we will develop and test polyelectrolyte membrane separators containing non-flammable ionic liquids, in full lithium metal batteries greater than 200 mAhr in size.