Over the past few decades, extensive research efforts have been devoted to various ion conducting materials. Although the substance of interest is different, the goal is the same as the achievement of high ionic conductivity via the creation of well-defined, less tortuous ionic channels in mechanically stable supports. In addition to that, the suppression of anion diffusion in such materials becomes increasingly important in recent years as it is connected to the device polarization with applied dc voltages. In this talk, I would like to present various strategies of enhancing ion transport efficiency in polymer electrolytes. First, the achievement of well-defined self-assembled morphologies with three-dimensional symmetries has proven to facilitate fast ion transport by constructing less tortuous ion-conducting pathways. Second, the inclusion of terminal ionic units was an effective means to control the nanoscale morphologies and conductivities of block copolymer electrolytes. Third, the addition of zwitterions selectively into nanoscale ionic domains offered a polar medium close to water, and accordingly increased the charge density and ionic conductivity. Fourth, the development of crystalline ionic channels in amorphous polymer matrix enabled us to fine-tune the dipolar interactions among ionic moieties as well as facilitated fast ion transport with low potential barrier. Our work should build up a new platform for highly efficient ion conducting materials and can find applications in various electrochemical devices.

Design rules of efficient ion conducting polymers: From block copolymers to single-ion polymers

256th National Meeting (2018)

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