Graft polymerization of poly(epichlorohydrin-g-poly((oxyethylene) methacrylate)) using ATRP and its polymer electrolyte with KI

This contribution demonstrates a synthesis of comb polymer consisting of a poly(epichlorohydrin) (PECH) backbone and poly(oxyethylene methacrylate) side chains. Atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) was used to directly initiate the chlorine atoms of PECH macroinitiator. The structure of comb polymer was characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H nuclear magnetic resonance) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, presenting the successful “grafting from” method using ATRP. The comb polymer was used as a polymer matrix for dissolving potassium iodide (KI) to prepare solid polymer electrolyte. FT-IR spectroscopy indicates that the potassium salts are dissolved in the polymeric matrix due to coordination interaction with the ether oxygens of graft copolymer. Differential scanning calorimetry showed that glass transition temperature (T _g) of polymer electrolytes continuously increased with increasing salt concentration up to 15 wt.%, mostly due to coordinative interactions between the potassium ions and the ether oxygens of polymer matrix. Ionic conductivity at room temperature increased with increasing salt concentrations up to 5 wt.% (maximum ionic conductivity ~3.7 × 10⁻⁵ S/cm), after which it gradually decreased.