With the rapid growth of electric vehicles and grid energy storage, more and more fire safety related issues of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs)
are happening due to the potential fire risk of the battery, such as self-combustion accident of TESLA electric vehicles. European
BATTERY 2030+ suggested a long-term roadmap which advised research actions to radically transform the way we discover, develop,
and design ultra-high-performance, durable, safe, sustainable, and affordable batteries for use in real applications. The EU Horizon Europe
programme addresses most of these technical challenges in Cluster 5 (Climate, Energy and Mobility) and, at National level, the new
Spanish Strategy of Science, Technology and Innovation for 2021-2027 also identifies Sustainable Mobility as one of the R&D strategic
lines for these upcoming periods.
Study on LIBs has attracted much attention of researchers during the past two decades. However, current LIBs still have serious potential
problems on the fire safety mainly due to the flammability of the electrolytes used at extreme conditions, e.g., short circuit. Aiming at
improving the fire safety of the battery, all-solid-state polymer electrolytes (ASPEs) offer some advantages over liquid electrolytes and
inorganic solid electrolytes. Therefore, ASPEs become a very promising candidate with high security for advanced LIBs; but they still have
a lot of challenges due to little progress in the past.

This project aims at solving some key scientific problems of ASPEs and providing theoretical basis to the development of new generation
fire safety batteries, based on the molecular design and material synthesis. The project will focus on the study of advanced ASPEs with
high ionic conductivity, mechanically strong, flame retardant and electrochemically stable within the battery operation window. The main
objectives include: I) Enhancing mechanical properties and ionic conductivity of polyethylene oxide (PEO) based solid electrolyte; II)
Enhancing fire safety of solid electrolyte matrix via systematic investigation of the structure and performance of PEO-cyclodextrin (CD)
polyrotaxane; III) Realizing solid state bio-based polymer electrolyte with high ionic conductivity, high mechanical strength and high flame
retardancy for fabricating new generation fire-safe LIBs; IV) Processing of all collected data, intelligent modelling after evaluation and
featuring for distinguishing of influence factors and global understanding of enhancement mechanisms in ASPEs.
This project presents an interdisciplinary (Supramolecular Chemistry, Materials science, Fire science, Electrochemistry, and Materials
Informatics) and innovative approach with great significance. These original ideas will bring us bran-new multi-functional and sustainable
ASPEs for developing new generation fire safe batteries.

It is expected that the output of this research will result in 8 Q1 publications and 1 patent application, and will allow the team members to
maintain their position among the world leaders in fire retardants and fire-safe energy storage materials. This work will constitute a fertile
ground for the career development of young researchers, which will find IMDEA Materials Institute (María de Maeztu award, 2019) a
fantastic place for personal and professional growth.