Review:Natural Polymer Electrolytes for Lithium Ion Batteries

Polymer electrolytes are attractive materials towards achieving safe,flexible and high-performance energy storage devices( ESDs) such as lithium ion batteries( LIBs). Conventional polymer electrolytes are confronted with big challenges to achieve high ionic conductivity,good mechanical properties,excellent biocompatibility and environmental friendliness. In this context,natural polymeric materials have appealing merits of multi-functionality,ease of accessibility,good mechanical strength,etc. making them promising candidates to substitute conventional polymer electrolytes. Recently,the rational design and fabrication of advanced natural bio-based polymer electrolytes have made important progresses. In this review, we summarize recent developments in terms of polymer electrolytes using natural polymers for several application purposes. This review also involves the merits and demerits of the different natural polymers that have been investigated thus far. The insights on state-of-the-art for natural polymer electrolytes and possible solutions for further improvement of them are discussed as well in this review.