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Development of functional polymer gel electrolytes and their application in next-generation lithium secondary batteries

Polymer Journal volume 57, pages 43–55 (2025)Cite this article

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Abstract

Owing to the digital revolution and growing emphasis on sustainability, the demand for innovative electrochemical devices, such as flexible and wearable sensors, energy-harvesting devices, and high-capacity secondary batteries, has been increasing. Alongside this, various high-performance gel electrolytes with excellent mechanical and electrochemical properties have been developed. This focus review presents our recent research on enhancing the mechanical properties of gel electrolytes and their application in lithium secondary batteries. It discusses the efforts made to achieve self-healing ion gels, which utilize ionic liquids as the electrolyte solutions. Additionally, the review covers the application of functional gel electrolytes in next-generation lithium secondary batteries. It focuses particularly on improving the cycling performance of lithium metal anodes, which are considered the very promising anode material. Moreover, the future prospects of functional polymer gel electrolytes have been discussed in this review.

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Acknowledgements

The author is sincerely grateful to all his colleagues for their collaboration and encouragement in this work. This work was financially supported by JSPS KAKENHI (23K26409), JST PRESTO program (JPMJPR2196), COI-NEXT (JPMJPF2016), and Green Technologies of Excellence (GteX) Program (JPMJGX23S3).

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  1. Research Center for Macromolecules & Biomaterials, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, 305-0047, Japan

    Ryota Tamate

  2. PRESTO, JST, 7 Gobancho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 102-0076, Japan

    Ryota Tamate

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Tamate, R. Development of functional polymer gel electrolytes and their application in next-generation lithium secondary batteries. Polym J 57, 43–55 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41428-024-00969-8

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