Enhanced Electrochemical Properties of Gel Polymer Electrolyte with Hybrid Copolymer of Organic Palygorskite and Methyl Methacrylate

Gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) is widely considered as a promising safe lithium-ion battery material compared to conventional organic liquid electrolyte, which is linked to a greater risk of corrosive liquid leakage, spontaneous combustion, and explosion. GPE contains polymers, lithium salts, and liquid electrolyte, and inorganic nanoparticles are often used as fillers to improve electrochemical performance. However, such composite polymer electrolytes are usually prepared by means of blending, which can impact on the compatibility between the polymer and filler. In this study, the hybrid copolymer poly (organic palygorskite-co-methyl methacrylate) (poly(OPal-MMA)) is synthesized using organic palygorskite (OPal) and MMA as raw materials. The poly(OPal-MMA) gel electrolyte exhibits an ionic conductivity of 2.94 × 10(−3) S/cm at 30 °C. The Li/poly(OPal-MMA) electrolyte/LiFePO(4) cell shows a wide electrochemical window (approximately 4.7 V), high discharge capacity (146.36 mAh/g), and a low capacity-decay rate (0.02%/cycle).