This paper describes the synthesis and properties of a new type of ceramic fillers for composite polymer gel electrolytes. Hybrid TiO2-SiO2 ceramic powders have been obtained by co-precipitation from titanium(IV) sulfate solution using sodium silicate as the precipitating agent. The resulting submicron-size powders have been applied as fillers for composite polymer gel electrolytes for Li-ion batteries based on poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVdF/HFP) copolymeric membranes. The powders, dry membranes and gel electrolytes have been examined structurally and electrochemically, showing favorable properties in terms of electrolyte uptake and electrochemical characteristics in Li-ion cells.
Impact of silicon tripodand-type electrolyte additives and graphite pre-treatment agents on the electrochemical intercalation of lithium cations into graphite was investigated. Addition of Si-tripodand-type silanes to propylene carbonate-based electrolytes was found to suppress detrimental solvent co-intercalation and graphite exfoliation. Similar effects were observed for graphite pre-treated with the reported silane agents. It was observed that the presented supramolecular additives allow for the formation of effective passive layers on graphite during first charging, and thus can be considered as novel low-cost film-forming components for rechargeable lithium batteries. [...]