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Vol. 18 (2026)

Polyphenol-Gated Composite Electrolytes with Enhanced Cross-Phase Lithium-Ion Transport for Solid-State Lithium Batteries

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-026-02127-6
Xiaoxiao Li
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Fiber Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, 2999 North Renmin Road, Shanghai 201620, People’s Republic of China
Minqiang Jiang
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Fiber Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, 2999 North Renmin Road, Shanghai 201620, People’s Republic of China
Kai Chen
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Fiber Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, 2999 North Renmin Road, Shanghai 201620, People’s Republic of China
Zhixiang Cai
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Fiber Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, 2999 North Renmin Road, Shanghai 201620, People’s Republic of China
Yingxin Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Fiber Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, 2999 North Renmin Road, Shanghai 201620, People’s Republic of China
Jiamei Luo
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Fiber Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, 2999 North Renmin Road, Shanghai 201620, People’s Republic of China
Lei Hou
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Fiber Materials, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Donghua University, 2999 North Renmin Road, Shanghai 201620, People’s Republic of China
Yazhou Zhou
Nanotechnology Centre, Centre for Energy and Environmental Technologies, VŠB-Technical University of Ostrava, 17. Listopadu 2172/15, 70800 Ostrava‑Poruba, Czech Republic
Chao Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Fiber Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, 2999 North Renmin Road, Shanghai 201620, People’s Republic of China
Hui Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Fiber Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, 2999 North Renmin Road, Shanghai 201620, People’s Republic of China
Feili Lai
Department of Chemistry, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200F, 3001 Louvain, Belgium
Yue‑E Miao
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Fiber Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, 2999 North Renmin Road, Shanghai 201620, People’s Republic of China
Tianxi Liu
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Fiber Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, 2999 North Renmin Road, Shanghai 201620, People’s Republic of China
Klaus Müllen
Nanotechnology Centre, Centre for Energy and Environmental Technologies, VŠB-Technical University of Ostrava, 17. Listopadu 2172/15, 70800 Ostrava‑Poruba, Czech Republic

Corresponding Author: Yue‑E Miao

yuee_miao@dhu.edu.cn

Nano-Micro Letters, Vol. 18 (2026), Article Number: 279

Abstract

Solid-state lithium (Li) batteries offer high-energy density and operational safety but face sluggish Li+ transport in polymer/ceramic composite solid-state electrolytes. Herein, we propose a bioinspired polyphenol-gated interfacial engineering that mimics ion-selective protein channels to enhance Li+-selective transport across the polymer–ceramic interface. Polyphenols such as polydopamine, poly-tannic acid, and poly-gallic acid chemically couple La0.56Li0.33TiO3 ceramic nanofibers and glycidyl polyether matrix. Within this interface, carbonyl groups selectively coordinate Li⁺ and facilitate directional migration. On the other hand, hydroxyl and amino groups immobilize anions via hydrogen bonding. This chemical gating nearly doubles interfacial Li+ concentration and boosts transference number to 0.68. The corresponding Li||LiFePO4 battery exhibits stable cycling over 600 cycles with 85.5% capacity retention at 1 C, while the pouch cell delivers reliable operation under mechanical stress caused by bending and puncturing. This work demonstrates that polyphenol-gated interfaces are essential for promoting selective and efficient cross-phase Li⁺ transport for high-performance solid-state lithium-metal batteries.


Highlights:
1 A biomimetic polyphenol-gated strategy is proposed to promote interfacial Li+ - selective transport in composite solid electrolytes by chemically bonding the polymer matrix and ceramic nanofibers.
2 The polyphenol interlayers serve as the chemical gates with –OH and –NH groups to immobilize lithium salt anions and carbonyl groups to coordinate Li+, thus lowering the energy barrier and promoting rapid Li+ transport at interface.
3 The assembled Li||LiFePO4 batteries exhibits an impressive capacity of 151.6 mAh g−1 and long lifespan over 600 cycles.

Keywords

Polyphenol-Gated Interface Composite Solid-State electrolytes Li - Selective Transport Polymer-Ceramic Interface Solid-State Lihium-Matel Batteries
Li, Xiaoxiao, Minqiang Jiang, Kai Chen, Zhixiang Cai, Yingxin Zhang, Jiamei Luo, Lei Hou, Yazhou Zhou, Chao Zhang, Hui Zhang, Feili Lai, Yue‑E Miao, Tianxi Liu, and Klaus Müllen. 2026. “Polyphenol-Gated Composite Electrolytes With Enhanced Cross-Phase Lithium-Ion Transport for Solid-State Lithium Batteries”. Nano-Micro Letters 18 (March):279. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-026-02127-6.
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