Recent advances in lithium-ion and lithium-polymer batteries

There have been increasing efforts to develop new and novel electrolytes and electrode materials to improve the capacity, energy density, cycle life, and the performance of lithium batteries with enhanced safety. These batteries have the potential to meet the needs of several new medical device applications as well as the growing needs of portable electronic devices. Improved cathode materials are being developed and composite anodes are being prepared and evaluated with some success. On the electrolyte side, investigations are being carried out in developing new materials with high conductivity and electrochemical stability to reduce the size and weight of the batteries. This paper describes our work on the synthesis of new and novel lithium salts and copolymers and the properties of solid polymer electrolyte films (SPE). The performance characteristics of prototype cells with SPE films, as well as solutions of super acid-based lithium salts are presented and their results are discussed in terms of their structure and properties.