LCMRC researchers have created a new family of electrolytes that promise to revolutionalize Lithium ion battery technology. Electrolytes are the electrically conducting media in batteries. Good ones carry high current density without chemical degradation and maintain their desirable characteristics over many charging and discharging cycles. Using polymerized liquid crystal membranes and ionic liquids (organic salts that are melted at room temperature), this nanostructured electrolyte has many of the best features of polymers and liquid electrolytes, plus a level of temperature-stable, liquid-like ion conductivity that has not been observed in conventional battery electrolyte materials.
