Tailoring the Salt Concentration in a Gel-Solid Polymer Electrolyte to Stabilize High-Voltage LiCoMnO₄ Cathode

Here, an attempt is made to depict the role of salt concentration on the electrochemical stability of a gel interface formed by the in-situ polymerization of a commercial liquid electrolyte on solid-polymer support, which is the so-called gel-solid polymer electrolyte (G-SPE). The electrochemical characterization of the electrolyte exhibits high ionic conductivity in the order of ≈10^-3 S cm^-1 at ambient temperature, while the same increases as the LiPF₆ concentration varies from 1 to 3 m. Further, the flammability test has shown the flame-retardant nature of the G-SPE compared to the liquid electrolyte. The stability of the G-SPE is analyzed in a half-cell configuration with a high-voltage LiCoMnO₄ cathode. Also, anode and anode-less cell configurations with LiCoMnO₄ cathode against Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ and Cu are carried out with G-SPE-2 m as the electrolyte. In addition, post-mortem analysis, like XRD, XPS, EDS, SEM, etc., of the cycled LiCoMnO₄ electrode and G-SPE is carried out to understand the occurrence of any material degradation or electrolyte decomposition during cycling.