Investigation of New Ion-Conducting ORMOLYTES: Structure and Properties

Two families of hybrid organic-inorganic composites exhibiting Li⁺ ionic conduction (ORMOLYTES) have been prepared by the sol-gel process. The first family, prepared from a mixture of 3-isocyanatopropyltriethoxysilane, O,O Bis (2-aminopropyl)-polyethyleneglycol (or O,O Bis (2-aminopropyl)-polypropyleneglycol) and lithium salt, presents chemical bonds between the organic and the inorganic phase and an ionic conductivity higher than 10^-4 S m^-1 at room temperature. Their properties have been related to their structure using liquid state NMR measurements of ⁷Li between -100°C and +100°C and the DMTA technique. In the second family, prepared by ultrasonic method from a mixture of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS), polyethyleneglycol (PEG) and lithium salt, the organic and inorganic phases are not chemically bonded. Ionic conductivity has been studied as a function of the polymer chain length and concentration. Values of up to 10^-2 S m^-1 at room temperature have been obtained (with a silica-PEG₃₀₀ system, PEG/TEOS = 40% in weight). Again, structure was investigated by liquid state ⁷Li NMR measurements.