LITHIUM ELECTRODE IN POLYMER ELECTROLYTES

Although solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) lithium rechargeable battery technologies have been demonstrated, in some instances, at the pilot-s cale level, the characterization of the reversibility of the lithium a node remains incomplete. Reversibility of the lithium electrode in sol id polymer electrolytes (SPEs) has been assumed, in most instances, to be better than the reversibility of the lithium electrode in liquid e lectrolytes. However, approaches recently used to increase the ionic c onductivity of the SPE at ambient temperature, which involved the addi tion of large fractions of liquid electrolytes to the SPE, are likely to reduce severely if not eliminated completely, the benefit, if any, that is associated with using SPEs to improve the reversibility of the lithium electrode. This paper reviews the literature and establishes the status of the state-of-the-art of lithium electrode reversibility in polymer electrolytes.