Monochromatic "Photoinitibitor"-Mediated Holographic Photopolymer Electrolytes for Lithium-Ion Batteries

A new polymer electrolyte based on holographic photopolymer is designed and fabricated. Ethylene carbonate (EC) and propylene carbonate (PC) are introduced as the photoinert substances. Upon laser-interference-pattern illumination, photopolymerization occurs within the constructive regions which subsequently results in a phase separation between the photogenerated polymer and unreacted EC-PC, affording holographic photopolymer electrolytes (HPEs) with a pitch of ≈740 nm. Interestingly, both diffraction efficiency and ionic conductivity increase with an augmentation of the EC-PC content. With 50 wt% of EC-PC, the diffraction efficiency and ionic conductivity are ≈60% and 2.13 × 10^-4 S cm^-1 at 30 °C, respectively, which are 60 times and 5 orders of magnitude larger than the electrolyte without EC-PC. Notably, the HPEs afford better anisotropy and more stable electrochemical properties when incorporating N,N-dimethylacrylamide. The HPEs exhibit good toughness under bending, excellent optical transparency under ambient conditions, and astonishing capabilities of reconstructing colored images. The HPEs here open a door to design flexible and transparent electronics with good mechanical, electrical, and optical functions.