Ionic gel electrolyte, energy storage devices, and methods of manufacture thereof

1. An electrochemical cell, comprising

an anode layer;

a cathode layer; and

a printed non-aqueous gel electrolyte layer coupled to the anode layer and the cathode layer;

said gel electrolyte layer providing physical separation between the anode layer and the cathode layer;

said gel electrolyte layer comprising a polymer into which at least one ionic liquid and an electrolyte salt have been imbibed, said gel electrolyte layer having an amount of said at least one ionic liquid not exceeding 75 wt. %; and

said gel electrolyte layer comprising a composition configured to provide ionic communication between the anode layer and cathode layer by facilitating transmission of multivalent ions between the anode layer and the cathode layer, wherein the electrolyte salt dissolved into the ionic liquid releases multivalent cations selected from ions of at least one of zinc, aluminum, magnesium and yttrium.

2. An electrochemical cell as recited in claim 1 , wherein the gel electrolyte layer is capable of withstanding substantial deformation.

3. An electrochemical cell as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:

a first current collector in electronic communication with the cathode layer; and

a second current collector in electronic communication with the anode layer.

4. An electrochemical cell as recited in claim 3 , wherein the first current collector and/or the second current collector comprises a metal foil comprising a metal selected from the group consisting of nickel, stainless steel, gold, and aluminum.

5. An electrochemical cell as recited in claim 3 , wherein the current collectors comprise printed layers each having thicknesses between 8 μm and 60 μm.

6. An electrochemical cell as recited in claim 3 , wherein the current collectors comprise metallic foils each having thicknesses between 1 μm and 80 μm.

7. An electrochemical cell as recited in claim 1 , wherein the polymer comprises one or more polymer(s) selected from the group consisting of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF), poly(vinylidene fluoride-hexaflouropropylene) (PVDF-HFP), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), poly(acrylo-nitrile) (PAN), and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), epoxy derivatives, and silicone derivatives.

8. An electrochemical cell as recited in claim 1 , wherein the electrolyte salt dissolved into the ionic liquid releases anions selected from the group consisting of chlorides, tetrafluoroborate (BF4-), trifluoroacetate (CF3CO2-), trifluoromethansulfonate (CF3SO3-), hexafluorophosphate (PF6-), bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)amide (NTf2-), and bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide (N(SO2F)2-).

9. An electrochemical cell as recited in claim 1 , wherein the ionic liquid is a room temperature salt having cations selected from the group consisting of imidazolium, pyrrolidinium, ammonium, pyridinium, piperidinium, phosphonium, and sulfonium.

10. An electrochemical cell as recited in claim 9 , wherein the ionic liquid is a room temperature salt having anions selected from the group consisting of chlorides, tetrafluoroborate (BF4-), trifluoroacetate (CF3CO2-), trifluoromethansulfonate (CF3SO3-), hexafluorophosphate (PF6-), bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)amide (NTf2-), and bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide (N(SO2F)2-).

11. An electrochemical cell as recited in claim 1 , wherein the anode comprises a component selected from the group consisting of zinc, aluminum, magnesium, and yttrium.

12. An electrochemical cell as recited in claim 1 , wherein the cathode comprises a metal oxide.

13. An electrochemical cell as recited in claim 12 , wherein metal oxide comprises a component selected from one or more of the group consisting of vanadium pentoxide (V 2 O 5 ), manganese dioxide (MnO 2 ), cobalt oxide (Co x O y ), titanium oxide (Ti x O y ), and lead oxide (Pb x O y ).

14. An electrochemical cell as recited in claim 1 , wherein the anode layer and the cathode layer each have thicknesses between 8 μm and 60 μm.

15. An electrochemical cell as recited in claim 1 , wherein the gel electrolyte layer has a thickness between approximately 1 μm and 30 μm.

16. An electrolyte configured to provide physical separation between an anode and a cathode of an electrochemical cell, comprising:

a room temperature ionic liquid electrolyte comprising an ionic liquid and a dissolved salt, said ionic liquid electrolyte imbibed into a polymer to form a printable non-aqueous gel, and said ionic liquid electrolyte having a concentration of said dissolved salt between 0.3 M and 0.75 M;

the electrolyte comprising a composition configured to provide ionic communication between the anode and the cathode by facilitating transmission of multivalent ions across the electrolyte, wherein the dissolved salt releases multivalent cations selected from ions of at least one of zinc, aluminum, magnesium and yttrium.

17. An electrolyte as recited in claim 16 , wherein the polymer comprises one or more polymer(s) selected from the group consisting of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF), poly(vinylidene fluoride-hexaflouropropylene) (PVDF-HFP), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), poly(acrylo-nitrile) (PAN), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), epoxy, derivatives and silicone derivatives.

18. An electrolyte as recited in claim 16 , wherein the ionic liquid is a room temperature salt having cations selected from the group consisting of imidazolium, pyrrolidinium, ammonium, pyridinium, piperidinium, phosphonium, and sulfonium.

19. An electrolyte as recited in claim 18 , wherein the ionic liquid is a room temperature salt having anions selected from the group consisting of chlorides, tetrafluoroborate (BF4-), trifluoroacetate (CF3CO2-), trifluoromethansulfonate (CF3SO3-), hexafluorophosphate (PF6-), bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)amide (NTf2-), and bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide (N(SO2F)2-).

20. An electrolyte as recited in claim 16 , wherein the ionic liquid has an ionic conductivity of approximately 3.15 mS/cm, and wherein the ionic liquid electrolyte has an ionic conductivity above 2.3 mS/cm.