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Letter

Nature Materials 3, 29–32 (1 January 2004) | doi:10.1038/nmat1044

The zwitterion effect in high-conductivity polyelectrolyte materials

Churat Tiyapiboonchaiya , Jennifer M. Pringle , Jiazeng Sun , Nolene Byrne , Patrick C. Howlett , Douglas R. MacFarlane & Maria Forsyth

The future of lithium metal batteries as a widespread, safe and reliable form of high-energy-density rechargeable battery depends on a significant advancement in the electrolyte material used in these devices. Molecular solvent-based electrolytes have been superceded by polymer electrolytes in some prototype devices, primarily in a drive to overcome leakage and flammability problems, but these often exhibit low ionic conductivity and prohibitively poor lithium-ion transport.