High-Strength and High-Temperature-Resistant Structural Battery Integrated Composites via Polymeric Bi-Continuous...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Aerospace Engineering

Background:

• Structural battery integrated composites (SBICs) are crucial for next-generation high-speed aircraft due to their combined strength and heat resistance.
• Developing electrolytes that maintain performance across a wide temperature range is a key challenge for SBIC applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a novel high-temperature-resistant bi-continuous electrolyte based on phthalonitrile resin for SBICs.
• To enable the construction of SBICs capable of stable operation at elevated temperatures.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a bi-continuous structure electrolyte (PL50) using phthalonitrile resin as the matrix and an ionic liquid as the conductive phase.
• Assembly and testing of SBICs with the PL50 electrolyte under various temperature conditions.

Main Results:

• The PL50 electrolyte exhibits excellent mechanical strength (299 MPa flexural strength, 31.8 GPa flexural modulus) and high ionic conductivity.
• SBICs with PL50 maintain excellent mechanical performance above 200°C.
• Enhanced rate performance and good cycling stability were observed at higher operating temperatures.
• Demonstrated resistance to mechanical abuse and flame retardance at high temperatures.

Conclusions:

• The phthalonitrile-based bi-continuous electrolyte enables high-performance SBICs suitable for extreme temperature environments.
• These SBICs show significant promise for applications in high-speed aircraft and other demanding conditions.