Flexible
membranes with ultrathin thickness and excellent mechanical
properties have shown great potential for broad uses in solid polymer
electrolytes (SPEs), on-skin electronics, etc. However, an ultrathin
membrane (<5 μm) is rarely reported in the above applications
due to the inherent trade-off between thickness and antifailure ability.
We discover a protic solvent penetration strategy to prepare ultrathin,
ultrastrong layered films through a continuous interweaving of aramid
nanofibers (ANFs) with the assistance of simultaneous protonation
and penetration of a protic solvent. The thickness of a pure ANF film
can be controlled below 5 μm, with a tensile strength of 556.6
MPa, allowing us to produce the thinnest SPE (3.4 μm). The resultant
SPEs enable Li–S batteries to cycle over a thousand times at
a high rate of 1C due to the small ionic impedance conferred by the
ultrathin characteristic and regulated ionic transportation. Besides,
a high loading of the sulfur cathode (4 mg cm–2)
with good sulfur utilization was achieved at a mild temperature (35
°C), which is difficult to realize in previously reported solid-state
Li–S batteries. Through a simple laminating process at the
wet state, the thicker film (tens of micrometers) obtained exhibits
mechanical properties comparable to those of thin films and possesses
the capability to withstand high-velocity projectile impacts, indicating
that our technique features a high degree of thickness controllability.
We believe that it can serve as a valuable tool to assemble nanomaterials
into ultrathin, ultrastrong membranes for various applications.