Efficient room-temperature solid-state lithium ion conductors enabled by mixed-graft block copolymer architectures

Xiaoyu Ji; Mengxue Cao; Xiaowei Fu; Ruiqi Liang; An N. Le; Qiuting Zhang; Mingjiang Zhong

Giant (Aug 2020)

Efficient room-temperature solid-state lithium ion conductors enabled by mixed-graft block copolymer architectures

Xiaoyu Ji,
Mengxue Cao,
Xiaowei Fu,
Ruiqi Liang,
An N. Le,
Qiuting Zhang,
Mingjiang Zhong

Affiliations

Xiaoyu Ji: Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA; Science and Technology on Advanced Ceramic Fibers and Composites Laboratory, College of Aerospace Science and Engineering, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China
Mengxue Cao: Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
Xiaowei Fu: Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA; State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, Polymer Research Institute of Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
Ruiqi Liang: Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
An N. Le: Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
Qiuting Zhang: Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
Mingjiang Zhong: Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA; Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA; Corresponding author at: Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA.

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 3
p. 100027

Abstract

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Fast lithium ion (Li+) transport in solid-state polymer-matrix conductors is in desperate demand in a wide range of room-temperature scenarios but remains a formidable challenge. Herein, we designed a class of solid-state electrolytes based on mixed-graft block copolymers (mGBCPs) containing short poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) side chains. The strong immiscibility of PEO and PDMS resulted in the formation of ordered phase-separated nanostructures. Diverse morphologies, including double gyroids, hexagonally perforated lamellae, hexagonally packed cylinders, and lamellae, were observed at different volume fractions of PEO/PDMS blocks. The impact of chain mobility of PEO on Li+ transport was investigated by varying the length of PEO side chains and blending with free PEO chains. We demonstrated that physically blending mGBCPs with free amorphous PEO chains significantly facilitated the Li+ conduction, and a solid-state electrolyte with room-temperature conductivity up to 2.0 × 10−4 S/cm was prepared.

Published in Giant

ISSN: 2666-5425 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Science: Science (General)
Website: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/giant

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