The biggest bottleneck in the development of smart phones is the lithium battery. Scientists are also actively looking for a safer and better battery alternative.

According to foreign media reports, a team of engineers at the University of Illinois (UI) proposed a polymer based solid electrolyte that can not only repair itself, but also be recycled without high temperature. By using a special cross-linked polymer, the new electrolyte becomes harder when heated, rather than broken down.

If you study it carefully, you'll find that the lithium-ion battery fires mostly because of the use of liquid electrolytes – if the battery is seriously damaged, it will react chemically with the electrode. Brian Jing, a graduate student in materials science and engineering at the University of Illinois, says that solid polymer or ceramic electrolytes are considered alternatives, but they tend to melt at the high temperature generated inside the battery. One way to solve this problem is to use crosslinked polymer strands to produce rubber like lithium conductors. It has a longer life than harder solid electrolytes, but it can't repair itself and it's hard to recycle.

The UI team developed a way to make cross-linked bonds so that they can exchange reactions and exchange polymer chains between them. This means that the polymer will harden when heated, and will self repair, resulting in a decrease in the growth of lithium dendrites. In addition, the polymer can be decomposed without strong acid or high temperature. Instead, it dissolves in water at room temperature.

At present, the team is trying to put this technology into commercial use.