Ion Transport in Solid Medium—Evaluation of Ionic Mobility for Design of Ion Transport Pathways in Separator and Gel Electrolyte

Abstract

Further improvement in the performance of lithium secondary batteries will be an indispensable issue to realize a decarbonized society. Among them, the batteries for electric vehicles still have many issues to be addressed because they are subject to various conditions such as high-power performance, safety, and cost restrictions for widespread use. Those subjects require extensive researches from the improvement of each element material to control the battery system to optimize the total performance. Based on this idea, we have been conducting research focusing on ion movement to elucidate the ion conduction mechanism from the microscopic point of view. It has been recognized that the ionic mobility in the battery, which dominates the power performance of the battery, is affected by the solid environment in which the ions move (separator and electrode materials) and the evaluation of ion movement, including the interaction with the surroundings, is necessary as an essential step for battery design. In this article, I will introduce the evaluation approach of ion dynamics and the evaluation results of mobility and interactive situations of carrier ions in the practical separator membranes and gel electrolytes. Finally, the direction of material design is outlined through this review.