Polymer electrolytes are a rapidly emerging option for energy storage and conversion, water treatment, sensors, and actuators. The current scientific thrust is to develop practically viable polymer electrolytes, especially in the solid state. Toward this goal, extensive efforts have been made to prepare polymers bearing ionic moieties with various chain architectures via appropriate linking chemistry, yet challenges remain in their low ionic conductivities and/or poor mechanical strengths. In this talk, I will present the controlled synthesis, self-assembly, and modulated ion clustering behavior of ion-containing polymers as the ways to improve their ion transport properties. The creation of well-defined self-assembled morphologies in such materials is stressed as significant consequences of milestones in this research era. Moreover, confinement of ions to ordered nanoscale domains offered a platform for creating nearly homogeneous ionic phases with a radically decreased potential barrier to ion conduction. A new means to control the morphology and conductivity of block copolymer electrolytes by the inclusion of ionic units at the chain ends will be also addressed. With orthogonal control over the type and number of end groups in polymers, this approach permitted the synthesis of polymer electrolytes with controlled crystallinity, improved mechanical strength, and enriched nanostructures with significant enhancement in ion transport properties. Lastly, I will briefly introduce on-going work of our group that demonstrate the high potential of single-ion polymers with crystalline protogenic channels as high-conductivity polymer electrolytes.

Confinement-entitled morphology and transport in charge-containing polymers

2019 Fall National Meeting

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