Although aprotic Li-air batteries offer an attractive option for achieving ultrahigh energy density of electrochemical energy storage devices, the now-established system has so far fallen short of its potential due to a daunting challenge related to its open configuration, which results in not only the rapid corrosion of Li metal anodes but also the gradual evaporation of organic liquid electrolytes. Here, we show that these issues can be well addressed by protecting the Li-air battery with a new O₂-permeable silica-aerogel-reinforced polydimethylsiloxane external membrane (OPSP). The highly flexible OPSP basically benefiting from hydrogen-bond cross-linking can be constructed in situ on any substrate with particularly desirable properties such as being water-/electrolyte-proof, O₂-permeable, high thermotolerance, and transparent, which allows stable cycling of coin-type and flexible Li-air batteries under harsh conditions, such as a highly volatile DMSO electrolyte (over 660 hours), a humid air (O₂) atmosphere (over 700 hours) or circumstances in air (O₂)-saturated liquid water (over 25 hours). This work could potentially open a new research direction in developing O₂-permeable membranes through hydrogen-bond cross-linking for the unfettered design of metal-air batteries.

尽管非质子锂空气电池为实现电化学储能装置的超高能量密度提供了诱人的选择，但由于其开放式配置带来的严峻挑战，目前建立的系统迄今仍未达到其潜力，这不仅导致锂金属阳极的快速腐蚀，以及有机液体电解质的逐渐蒸发。在这里，我们表明，通过使用新型O ₂渗透性二氧化硅气凝胶增强的聚二甲基硅氧烷外膜（OPSP）保护锂空气电池，可以很好地解决这些问题。基本上受益于氢键交联的高柔性OPSP可以原位构建在任何具有特别理想特性的基材上，例如防水/耐电解质，O₂渗透性，高耐热性和透明性，可在恶劣条件下，例如高挥发性DMSO电解质（超过660小时），潮湿空气（O ₂）（超过700小时）或在空气（O ₂）饱和的液态水中（超过25小时）的环境。这项工作可能为通过氢键交联开发O ₂渗透性膜开辟新的研究方向，从而不受约束地设计金属空气电池。