Polymer Solvents For Electrochemical Reactions

Solubility of inorganic salts and potential window of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) were analyzed. Sufficient potential window (?1.6 to + 1.6 V vs Ag) was obtained for salt-containing PEOs when the ionic conductivity of the PEOs was higher than 3.0 × 10^?4 S/cm. PEO was then used as a polymer solvent for electrochemical redox reactions of heme proteins. Myoglobin was solubilized in salt-containing PEO oligomers only after PEO modification, and their reversible redox reactions were confirmed. The electrochemical reduction was slow because of the very low diffusion coefficient of the proteins in PEO oligomers. PEO-modi-fied myoglobin and hemoglobin showed reversible electron transfer reaction with ITO glass electrode at even 80 or 100°C in PEO oligomers.     

Transport properties of solid polymer electrolytes prepared from oligomeric fluorosulfonimide lithium salts dissolved in high molecular weight poly(ethylene oxide)

Transport properties such as ionic conductivity, lithium transference number, and apparent salt diffusion coefficient are reported for solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) prepared using several oligomeric bis[(perfluoroalkyl)sulfonyl]imide (fluorosulfonimide) lithium salts dissolved in high molecular weight poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO). The salt series consists of polyanions in which two discrete fluorosulfonimide anions are linked together by [(perfluorobutylene)disulfonyl]imide linker chains. The restricted diffusion technique was used to measure the apparent salt diffusion coefficients in SPEs, and cationic transference numbers were determined using both potentiostatic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy methods. A general trend of diminished salt diffusion coefficient with increasing anion size was observed and is opposite to the trend observed in ionic conductivity. This unexpected finding is rationalized in terms of the cumulative effects of charge carrier concentration, anion mobility, ion pairing, host plasticization by the anions, and salt phase segregation on the conductivity.     

Conformation and electrochemical reduction of myoglobin in PEO oligomers

Horse-heart myoglobin (Mb) was modified with poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) to solubilize it in PEO oligomers. PEO-modified Mb (PEO–Mb) showed a quasi-reversible electrochemical redox reaction in PEO₂₀₀ (molar mass of 200 g). PEO–Mbs, modified with lower molecular weight of PEO chains, were soluble in PEO oligomers with wider range of molecular weight. A conformation of PEO–Mb was studied with circular dichroism spectroscopy in phosphate buffer solution (PBS) or PEO oligomers. The α-helix content of PEO–Mb, determined by the molar ellipticity at 222 nm, decreased from 71% to about 58% after PEO modification. However, the degree of PEO modification did not affect the α-helix content of PEO–Mbs. On the other hand, the α-helix content of PEO–Mbs was reduced by lowering the molecular weight of the modified PEO chains. Since the α-helix content of PEO–Mb in PBS and that in the PEO oligomers were almost identical, the conformation of PEO–Mb in PBS was considered to be maintained even in PEO oligomers. Although the reduction rate constant of PEO–Mb in PEO oligomers depended on the total molecular weight of the PEO–Mbs, their relation did not obey the Stokes–Einstein equation. The reduction of the PEO–Mb was probably affected by the interfacial electron transfer process at the electrode surface rather than by diffusion in the PEO oligomer.     

Polyethylene oxide-based nanocomposite polymer electrolytes for redox capacitors

In this work, the use of a polyethylene oxide-based nanocomposite polymer electrolyte (NCPE) in a redox capacitor with polypyrrole electrodes has been studied. To the best of our knowledge, not much work has been reported in the literature on redox capacitors fabricated using NCPEs. The composition of the polyethylene oxide (PEO)-based NCPE was fine tuned to obtain films with the highest ionic conductivity. They were mechanically stable to handle for any purpose without damaging the film. The optimized composition was {[(10PEO:NaClO₄) molar ratio]: 75 wt.% propylene carbonate (PC)}: 5 wt.% TiO₂. This electrolyte film showed an ambient temperature ionic conductivity of 5.42 × 10^?3 S cm^?1. It was employed in a redox capacitor with polypyrrole electrodes polymerized in the presence of sodium perchlorate in non-aqueous medium. Performance of the redox capacitors were observed using cycling voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and galvanostatic charge discharge test. It was possible to observe a satisfactory capacitive behavior in the range 58–83 F/g. Further, the redox capacitors had the ability to retain for continuous charge discharge processes.     

相态结构对聚氧化乙烯/丁二腈/高氯酸锂复合电解质室温电导率的影响

采用聚氧化乙烯(PEO)、丁二腈和高氯酸锂(LiClO4)的复合电解质体系, 制备了一系列不同配比的PEO/SN/LiClO4复合电解质, 对其室温电性能和相态结构进行了表征, 并探讨了相态结构对室温电导率的影响.     

Li1.5Al0.5Ge1.5(PO4)3基固体复合电解质的制备及锂离子导电行为

将聚氧化乙烯(PEO)和二(三氟甲基磺酰)亚胺锂(LiTFSI)混合(固定EO/Li摩尔比为13)后, 采用溶液浇注法制备了一系列不同Li_1.5Al_0.5Ge_1.5(PO₄)₃(LAGP)与PEO质量比的LAGP-PEO(LiTFSI)固体复合电解质体系. 结合电化学阻抗法、 表面形貌表征以及与惰性陶瓷填料(SiO₂, Al₂O₃) 性能的对比分析, 探讨了LAGP在固体复合电解质中的作用机理以及锂离子的导电行为. 结果表明, 在以LAGP为主相的固体复合电解质中, PEO主要处于无定形态, 整个体系主要为PEO与LiTFSI的络合相、 LAGP与PEO(LiTFSI)相互作用形成的过渡相和LAGP晶相. 其中LAGP作为主要的导电基体不仅起到降低PEO结晶度、 改善两相导电界面的作用; 同时自身也可以作为离子传输的通道, 降低锂离子迁移的活化能, 从而使离子电导率得到提高. 当LAGP与PEO的质量比为6:4时, 固体复合电解质的成膜性能最好, 离子电导率最高, 在30 ℃时为2.57×10^-5 S/cm, 接近LAGP的水平, 电化学稳定窗口超过5 V.     

Molecular dynamics simulation of polymer electrolytes based on poly(ethylene oxide) and ionic liquids. II. Dynamical properties

Dynamical properties of polymer electrolytes based on poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and ionic liquids of 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium cations were calculated by molecular dynamics simulations with previously proposed models [L. T. Costa and M. C. Ribeiro, J. Chem. Phys. 124, 184902 (2006)]. The effect of changing the ionic liquid concentration, temperature, and the 1-alkyl-chain lengths, [1,3-dimethylimidazolium]PF(6) and [1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium]PF(6) ([dmim]PF(6) and [bmim]PF(6)), was investigated. Cation diffusion coefficient is higher than those of anion and oxygen atoms of PEO chains. Ionic mobility in PEO[bmim]PF(6) is higher than in PEO[dmim]PF(6), so that the ionic conductivity kappa of the former is approximately ten times larger than the latter. The ratio between kappa and its estimate from the Nernst-Einstein equation kappa/kappa(NE), which is inversely proportional to the strength of ion pairs, is higher in ionic liquid polymer electrolytes than in polymer electrolytes based on inorganic salts with Li(+) cations. Calculated time correlation functions corroborate previous evidence from the analysis of equilibrium structure that the ion pairs in ionic liquid polymer electrolytes are relatively weak. Structural relaxation at distinct spatial scales is revealed by the calculation of the intermediate scattering function at different wavevectors. These data are reproduced with stretched exponential functions, so that temperature and wavevector dependences of best fit parameters can be compared with corresponding results for polymer electrolytes containing simpler ions.     

Physicochemical properties and structures of room temperature ionic liquids. 2. Variation of alkyl chain length in imidazolium cation

The alkyl chain length of 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethane sulfonyl)imide ([Rmim][(CF(3)SO(2))(2)N], R = methyl (m), ethyl (e), butyl (b), hexyl (C(6)), and octyl (C(8))) was varied to prepare a series of room-temperature ionic liquids (RTILs), and the thermal behavior, density, viscosity, self-diffusion coefficients of the cation and anion, and ionic conductivity were measured over a wide temperature range. The self-diffusion coefficient, viscosity, ionic conductivity, and molar conductivity change with temperature following the Vogel-Fulcher-Tamman equation, and the density shows a linear decrease. The pulsed-field-gradient spin-echo NMR method reveals a higher self-diffusion coefficient for the cation compared to that for the anion over a wide temperature range, even if the cationic radius is larger than that of the anion. The summation of the cationic and anionic diffusion coefficients for the RTILs follows the order [emim][(CF(3)SO(2))(2)N] > [mmim][(CF(3)SO(2))(2)N] > [bmim][(CF(3)SO(2))(2)N] > [C(6)mim][(CF(3)SO(2))(2)N] > [C(8)mim][(CF(3)SO(2))(2)N], which greatly contrasts to the viscosity data. The ratio of molar conductivity obtained from impedance measurements to that calculated by the ionic diffusivity using the Nernst-Einstein equation quantifies the active ions contributing to ionic conduction in the diffusion components, in other words, ionicity of the ionic liquids. The ratio decreases with increasing number of carbon atoms in the alkyl chain. Finally, a balance between the electrostatic and induction forces has been discussed in terms of the main contribution factor in determining the physicochemical properties.     

含硅氢键聚二硅氧烷/聚醚共混聚合物电解质 II. PSEMH对PEO结晶性能及离子电导率的影响

通过Raman,DSC和XRD等方法对PEO-PSEMH-LiClO4全固态共混聚合物电解质进行了研究,结果表明PSEMH能够显著地降低PEO-LiClO4电解质体系的PEO的结晶性和玻璃化转变温度,同时PSEMH分子的二硅醚链节中氧原子与Li+间具有配位作用,从而大幅提高x%PEO-y%PSEMH-LiClO4电解质在低温区的离子电导率。而当PSEMH交联硫化之后,虽然降低了PEO的结晶度和Tg,但是由于PSEMH的交联网络限制了聚合物链段的运动性,使得电解质的离子电导率在低温区高于100%PEO-LiClO4(约为12倍),而在高温区则低于100%PEO-LiClO4,充分证明了PSEMH对电解质的离子电导率的具有显著的贡献作用。     

PEO/LiClO_4纳米SiO_2复合聚合物电解质的电化学研究

将实验室制备的纳米二氧化硅和市售纳米二氧化硅粉末与PEO LiClO4复合 ,制得了复合PEO电解质 .它们的室温离子电导率可比未复合的PEO电解质提高 1～ 2个数量级 ,最高可以达到 1 2 4× 10 - 5S cm .离子电导率的提高有两方面的原因 :一是无机二氧化硅粉末的加入抑制了PEO的结晶 ,是二氧化硅粉末和聚合物电解质之间形成的界面对电导率的提高也有一定的作用 .在进一步加入PC EC(碳酸丙烯酯 碳酸乙烯酯 )混合增塑剂后制得的复合凝胶PEO电解质 ,可使室温离子电导率再提高 2个数量 ,达到 2× 10 - 3 S cm .用这种复合凝胶PEO电解质组装了Li|compositegelelectrolyte|Li半电池 ,并测量了该半电池的交流阻抗谱图随组装后保持时间的变化 ,实验观察到在保持时间为 144h以内钝化膜的交流阻抗迅速增大 ,但在随后的时间内逐渐趋于平稳 ,表明二氧化硅粉末的加入可以有效地抑制钝化膜的生长     

Ionic conductivities of the complexes of LiClO4 and alternating copolymers of oligomeric poly(ethylene oxide) having biphenyl units in the backbone

A series of copolymers of predominantly poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) with biphenyl (BP) units in the backbone were synthesized. The solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) were prepared from these copolymers (BP-PEG) employing lithium perchlolate (LiClO₄) as a lithium salt and their ionic conductivities were investigated to exploit the structure–ionic conductivity relationships as a function of chain length ratio between the flexible PEO chains and rigid BP units. The ionic conductivity increases with increasing PEO length in BP-PEG. The salt concentrations in BP-PEG/LiClO₄ complexes were also changed and the results show that maximum conductivity is obtained at [EO]/[Li⁺]≈8. The reasons for these findings are discussed in terms of the number of charge carriers and the mobility of the polymer chain.     

Specific ionic conduction in poly[oligo (oxyethylene glycol) methacrylate] (PMEO)–Li salt complexes under high‐pressure CO2

We measured the ionic conductivity of amorphous poly[oligo (oxyethylene glycol) methacrylate] (PMEO)–lithium salt complexes under a CO₂ pressure varying from 0.1 to 20 MPa. The pressure dependence of the conductivity was positive, and the conductivity was higher than that under an inert gas such as N₂. The ion‐conductive behavior has been modeled using both the Vogel–Tammann–Fulcher (VTF) equation and activation volume theory. The calculated parameters of the VTF equation show that CO₂ that had permeated into the PMEO matrix acts as solvent molecules to dissolve ions and lower the glass transition temperature at high pressures. The ionic conduction in PMEO complexes under high‐pressure CO₂ was scarcely related to the VTF parameters and activation volume equations. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 43: 3151–3158, 2005     

Preparation and ionic conductivity of poly(ethylene oxide) oligomers having thiolate groups on the chain ends

Poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) oligomers having alkali metal thiolate groups on the chain ends (PEO _m -S⁻M⁺) were prepared as an ion conductive matrix. The molecular weight of the PEO part (m) and the content of the thiolate groups in the molecule were changed to analyze the effect of carrier ion concentration in the bulk. In a series of potassium salt derivatives, PEO₃₅₀-SK showed the highest ionic conductivity of 6.42 × 10⁻⁵ S/cm at 50 °C. In spite of a poor degree of dissociation which was derived from the acidity of the thiolate groups, PEO _m -SM showed quite high ionic conductivity among other PEO/salt hybrids. PEO _m -SM had glass transition temperatures (T _g) 20 °C lower than other PEO/salt hybrids. Lowering the T _g was concluded to be effective in providing higher ionic conductivity for PEO-based polymer electrolytes. Received: 30 April 1999 / Accepted: 20 June 1999     

Correlating backbone‐to‐backbone distance to ionic conductivity in amorphous polymerized ionic liquids

The morphology and ionic conductivity of poly(1‐n‐alkyl‐3‐vinylimidazolium)‐based homopolymers polymerized from ionic liquids were investigated as a function of the alkyl chain length and counterion type. In general, X‐ray scattering showed three features: (i) backbone‐to‐backbone, (ii) anion‐to‐anion, and (iii) pendant‐to‐pendant characteristic distances. As the alkyl chain length increases, the backbone‐to‐backbone separation increases. As the size of counterion increases, the anion‐to‐anion scattering peak becomes apparent and its correlation length increases. The X‐ray scattering features shift to lower angles as the temperature increases due to thermal expansion. The ionic conductivity results show that the glass transition temperature (T_g) is a dominant, but not exclusive, parameter in determining ion transport. The T_g‐independent ionic conductivity decreases as the backbone‐to‐backbone spacing increases. Further interpretation of the ionic conductivity using the Vogel–Fulcher–Tammann equation enabled the correlation between polymer morphology and ionic conductivity, which highlights the importance of anion hoping between adjacent polymer backbones. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2012     

Adsorption of polyethylene oxide on surface modified silica – stability of bare and covered particles in suspension

 The adsorption of poly-ethylene oxide (PEO) on modified colloidal silica and the stability of the aqueous suspension was investigated. With octanol some silanol groups at the silica surface were replaced by octylgroups. The size of the modified silica particles and the charge and chemical groups on the surface were charaterized by ultracentrifugation, photon correlation spectrometry, polyelectrolyte titration and IR spectrometry. The adsorbed amounts of polyethylene oxides of different molar mass were determined on the modified silica in water. With photon correlation spectrometry (PCS) the hydrodynamic layer thickness of the PEO layers on the particles were measured. The dependences of the layer thicknesses on molar mass of the PEO, polymer concentration and adsorption time were determined. The aggregation of the suspended PEO coated and uncoated modified silica particles was examined with PCS by the time dependence of the diffusion coefficient at different salt concentrations. The influence of molar mass and concentration of PEO as well as of the age of the dispersion was explored. The measured dependences are discussed and compared with the behavior of unmodified silica- and latex-particles. Received: 6 April 1998 Accepted: 27 May 1998     

Copolymerization of methacrylic acid alkali metal salts and polyether-containing monomers in solid polymer electrolytes

Copolymerization of methacrylic acid alkali metal salts (MAAM; M = Li, Na, K, Rb or Cs) and oligo(oxyethylene) methacrylate (MEO) was carried out in bulk or in poly(oligo(oxyethylene) methacrylate) (PMEO) at 60°C. The copolymers of MAAM and MEO which were obtained by bulk polymerization showed a cation conductivity of around 1 × 10^?7 S/cm at room temperature. On the other hand, the copolymers obtained by radical polymerization in PMEO, showed a higher cation conductivity (10^?6–10^?5 S/cm). Furthermore, higher cation conductivity was observed for the copolymer systems containing alkali metal cations with a larger ion radius. This tendency was explained by the strength of the bond between alkali metal cation and ether oxygens. The degree of dissociation had little effect on this difference in the conductivity. The effective dissociation of methacrylic salts was enhanced in the copolymer compared to the homopolymer because of the suppression of the adjacent dissociative carboxylic acid groups. Arrhenius plots for ionic conductivity show the migration of ions along with the segmental motion of the polymer matrix.     

Effects of PEO length and phenyl unit structure on ionic conductivities of the complexes of LiClO4 and alternating copolymers of PEO having various phenyl units in the backbone

A series of copolymers of predominantly poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) with mono-phenyl (HQ), biphenyl (BP) units, or both of them (HQ/BP) in the backbone were synthesized. The solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) were prepared from three different types of copolymers (HQ-PEG, BP-PEG, and HQ/BP-PEG) employing lithium perchlorate (LiClO₄) as a lithium salt at a fixed salt concentration of [EO]/[Li⁺]=8. Their ionic conductivities were investigated to exploit the structure–ionic conductivity relationships as a function of structural change in rigid phenyl units and chain length ratio between flexible PEO chain and rigid phenyl units. As more rigid phenyl units were incorporated in the backbone chain, the formation inter- and intra-molecular complex with LiClO₄ became weaker and lower ionic conductivities were observed. And it was also found that higher ionic conductivity is obtained with increasing PEO chain length because inter- and intra-molecular dissociation power of PEO increases.     

A new composite polymer electrolyte based on poly(ethyleneoxide)/ polysiloxane/BMImTFSI/organomontmorillonite

Composite polymer electrolytes based on poly(ethylene oxide)-polysiloxane/l-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide/organomontmorillonite(PEO-PDMS/1L/OMMT) were prepared and characterized.Addition of both an ionic liquid and OMMT to the polymer base of PEO-PDMS resulted in an increase in ionic conductivity.At room temperature,the ionic conductivity of sample PPB100-OMMT4 was 2.19×10~3 S/cm.The composite polymer electrolyte also exhibited high thermal and electrochemical stability and may potentially be applied in lithium batteries.     

水-油界面上聚合物单链的动态性质及疏水相互作用

通过荧光关联光谱研究了不相容的水-油界面上聚乙二醇单链的横向扩散运动,系统地研究了PEO单链的扩散运动速率随着水溶液中电解质NaCl浓度的升高的变化规律,发现随着盐浓度的升高,扩散系数的变化主要取决于油相的黏度,说明NaCl浓度的升高增强了聚合物链与烷烃油相的疏水相互作用.     

Morphology, ionic diffusion and applicability of novel polymer gel electrolytes with LiI/I2

Novel polymer gel electrolytes have been prepared by incorporating LiI-I(2) solutions into a polyethylene oxide matrix supported by a TiO(2) filler. The gel electrolytes, based on either acetonitrile or propylene carbonate solvents are compared with liquid standard ones and are examined by (7)Li solid state nuclear magnetic resonance relaxometry and diffusion measurements. In parallel, the triiodide apparent diffusion coefficient has been determined by linear sweep voltammetry. The results are correlated with atomic force microscopic images of the electrolytes and give insight of the dynamic properties of the ions in the constrained polymer medium. Furthermore, the dissociation of the ions is estimated by relating the ionic conductivity to the ionic diffusion. As a prime application, the polymer gel electrolytes were incorporated in dye sensitized solar cells and the measured energy conversion efficiencies were successfully correlated with their morphological, diffusive and conducting properties.