High-Modulus, High-Conductivity Nanostructured Polymer Electrolyte Membranes via Polymerization-Induced Phase Separation

• DOI: 10.1021/nl4034818
• Publication Date: 2013-12-13T18:27:31Z
• Authors: Morgan W. Schulze; Lucas D. McIntosh; Marc A. Hillmyer; Timothy P. Lodge
• Keywords: Polystyrene

The primary challenge in solid-state polymer electrolyte membranes (PEMs) is to enhance properties, such as modulus, toughness, and high temperature stability, without sacrificing ionic conductivity. We report a remarkably facile one-pot synthetic strategy based on polymerization-induced phase separation (PIPS) generate nanostructured PEMs that exhibit an unprecedented combination of modulus Simple heating poly(ethylene oxide) macromolecular chain transfer agent dissolved mixture liquid, styrene divinylbenzene, leads bicontinuous PEM comprising interpenetrating nanodomains highly cross-linked polystyrene oxide)/ionic liquid. Ionic conductivities higher than the 1 mS/cm benchmark were achieved samples with elastic approaching GPa at room temperature. Crucially, these are robust solids above 100 °C, where conductivity significantly higher. This holds tremendous potential advance lithium-ion battery technology by enabling use lithium metal anodes or serve high-temperature fuel cells.