A Polymer Lithium-Oxygen Battery.

Herein we report the characteristics of a lithium-oxygen battery using a solid polymer membrane as the electrolyte separator. The polymer electrolyte, fully characterized in terms of electrochemical properties, shows suitable conductivity at room temperature allowing the reversible cycling of the Li-O2 battery with a specific capacity as high as 25,000 mAh gC(-1) reflected in a surface capacity of 12.5 mAh cm(-2). The electrochemical formation and dissolution of the lithium peroxide during Li-O2 polymer cell operation is investigated by electrochemical techniques combined with X-ray diffraction study, demonstrating the process reversibility. The excellent cell performances in terms of delivered capacity, in addition to its solid configuration allowing the safe use of lithium metal as high capacity anode, demonstrate the suitability of the polymer lithium-oxygen as high-energy storage system.