Charge Carrier Relaxation in Different Plasticized PEO/PVDF-HFP Blend Solid Polymer Electrolytes

Unveiling the potential of emergent nanoscale composite polymer electrolytes for safe and efficient all solid-state lithium-ion batteries

Solid-state polymer electrolytes (SSPEs) are promising materials for Li-ion batteries due to their enhanced safety features, which are crucial for preventing short circuits and explosions, replacing traditional liquid electrolytes with solid electrolytes are increasingly important to improve battery reliability and lifespan. There are essentially three-types of solid-state electrolytes such as solid polymer electrolyte, composite based polymer electrolyte and gel-based polymer electrolyte are largely used in battery applications. Additionally, battery separators must have high ionic conductivity and porosity to boost safety and performance. Durable solid composites electrolytes with excellent thermal and mechanical properties are key to reducing the risk of lithium dendrite growth, thereby improving overall battery efficiency. Despite their potential, challenges like scalability, cost and real-world performance optimizations still need to be addressed.

Investigating the Correlation between Electrolyte Concentration and Electrochemical Properties of Ionogels

Ionogels are hybrid materials comprising an ionic liquid confined within a polymer matrix. They have garnered significant interest due to their unique properties, such as high ionic conductivity, mechanical stability, and wide electrochemical stability. These properties make ionogels suitable for various applications, including energy storage devices, sensors, and solar cells. However, optimizing the electrochemical performance of ionogels remains a challenge, as the relationship between specific capacitance, ionic conductivity, and electrolyte solution concentration is yet to be fully understood. In this study, we investigate the impact of electrolyte solution concentration on the electrochemical properties of ionogels to identify the correlation for enhanced performance. Our findings demonstrate a clear relationship between the specific capacitance and ionic conductivity of ionogels, which depends on the availability of mobile ions. The reduced number of ions at low electrolyte solution concentrations leads to decreased ionic conductivity and specific capacitance due to the scarcity of a double layer, constraining charge storage capacity. However, at a 31 vol% electrolyte solution concentration, an ample quantity of ions becomes accessible, resulting in increased ionic conductivity and specific capacitance, reaching maximum values of 58 ± 1.48 μS/cm and 45.74 F/g, respectively. Furthermore, the synthesized ionogel demonstrates a wide electrochemical stability of 3.5 V, enabling diverse practical applications. This study provides valuable insights into determining the optimal electrolyte solution concentration for enhancing ionogel electrochemical performance for energy applications. It highlights the impact of ion pairs and aggregates on ion mobility within ionogels, subsequently affecting their resultant electrochemical properties.

Phase behavior of binary and ternary fluoropolymer (PVDF-HFP) solutions for single-ion conductors

A fluoropolymer poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) has a dielectric constant of ∼11, providing charge screening effects. Hence, this highly polar PVDF-HFP material has been employed as a matrix for solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs). In this study, the phase behavior of binary PVDF-HFP solutions was analyzed using the Flory-Huggins theory, in which ethylene carbonate, propylene carbonate, dimethyl carbonate, γ-butyrolactone, and acetone were employed as model solvents. In particular, for the binary PVDF-HFP/acetone system, the solid-liquid and liquid-liquid phase transitions were qualitatively described. Then, the phase diagram for ternary acetone/PVDF-HFP/polyphenolate systems was constructed, in which the binodal, spinodal, tie-line, and critical point were included. Finally, when a polyelectrolyte lithium polyphenolate was mixed with the PVDF-HFP matrix, it formed a single-ion conductor with a Li⁺ transference number of 0.8 at 23 °C. In the case of ionic conductivity, it was ∼10^-5 S cm^-1 in solid state and ∼10^-4 S cm^-1 in gel state, respectively.

Selectively tuning ionic thermopower in all-solid-state flexible polymer composites for thermal sensing

There has been increasing interest in the emerging ionic thermoelectric materials with huge ionic thermopower. However, it's challenging to selectively tune the thermopower of all-solid-state polymer materials because the transportation of ions in all-solid-state polymers is much more complex than those of liquid-dominated gels. Herein, this work provides all-solid-state polymer materials with a wide tunable thermopower range (+20~-6 mV K-1), which is different from previously reported gels. Moreover, the mechanism of p-n conversion in all-solid-state ionic thermoelectric polymer material at the atomic scale was presented based on the analysis of Eastman entropy changes by molecular dynamics simulation, which provides a general strategy for tuning ionic thermopower and is beneficial to understand the fundamental mechanism of the p-n conversion. Furthermore, a self-powered ionic thermoelectric thermal sensor fabricated by the developed p- and n-type polymers demonstrated high sensitivity and durability, extending the application of ionic thermoelectric materials.

Flexible, Mechanically Robust, Solid-State Electrolyte Membrane with Conducting Oxide-Enhanced 3D Nanofiber Networks for Lithium Batteries

Using a three-dimensional (3D) Li-ion conducting ceramic network, such as Li₇La₃Zr₂O₁₂ (LLZO) garnet-type oxide conductor, has proved to be a promising strategy to form continuous Li ion transfer paths in a polymer-based composite. However, the 3D network produced by brittle ceramic conductor nanofibers fails to provide sufficient mechanical adaptability. In this manuscript, we reported a new 3D ion-conducting network, which is synthesized from highly loaded LLZO nanoparticles reinforced conducting polymer nanofibers, by creating a lightweight continuous and interconnected LLZO-enhanced 3D network to outperform conducting heavy and brittle ceramic nanofibers to offer a new design principle of composite electrolyte membrane featuring all-round properties in mechanical robustness, structural flexibility, high ionic conductivity, lightweight, and high surface area. This composite-nanofiber design overcomes the issues of using ceramic-only nanoparticles, nanowires, or nanofibers in polymer composite electrolyte, and our work can be considered as a new generation of composite electrolyte membrane in composite electrolyte development.

Study of charge transfer mechanism and dielectric relaxation of all-inorganic perovskite CsSnCl3

In the field of commercialization, lead-free metal halide perovskite materials are becoming more popular these days because of their prospective use in solar cells and also in other optoelectronic applications. In this paper, a non-toxic CsSnCl₃ metal halide is successfully synthesized via the slow evaporation solution growth technique. Such systematic characterizations as differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements, dielectric measurements, and variable-temperature structural analyses indicate that CsSnCl₃ goes through a reversible phase transformation at T = 391/393 K from the monoclinic to the cubic system. Optical measurements of CsSnCl₃ reveal a direct band-gap value of about 3.04 eV. The study of the charge transfer mechanism of CsSnCl₃ is carried out based on Elliott's theory. The conduction mechanism in CsSnCl₃ is interpreted through the following two approaches: the non-overlapping small polaron tunneling (NSPT) model (monoclinic phase) and the overlapping large polaron tunneling (OLPT) model (cubic phase). Moreover, the high dielectric constant of CsSnCl₃ which is associated with a low dielectric loss makes it a possible candidate for energy harvesting devices.

The conduction mechanism in CsSnCl3 is interpreted through the following two approaches: the non-overlapping small polaron tunneling (NSPT) model (monoclinic phase) and the overlapping large polaron tunneling (OLPT) model (cubic phase).

Lithium, sodium and magnesium ion conduction in solid state mixed polymer electrolytes

Alkali and alkaline earth metal-ion batteries are currently among the most efficient electrochemical energy storage devices. However, their stability and safety performance are greatly limited when used with volatile organic liquid electrolytes. A solid state polymer electrolyte is a prospective solution even though poor ionic conductivity at room temperature remains a bottleneck. Here we propose the mixing of two similar polymer matrices, poly(dimethyl siloxane) and poly(ethylene oxide), to address this challenge. The resulting electrolyte matrix is denser and significantly improves room-temperature ionic conductivity. Ab initio analyses of the reaction between the cations and the polymers show that oxygen sites act as entrapment sites for the cations and that ionic conduction likely occurs through hopping between adjacent oxygen sites. Molecular dynamics simulations of the dynamics of both polymers and the dynamics of the polymer mix show that the more frequent and more pronounced molecular vibrations of the polymer mix are likely responsible for reducing the time between two consecutive oxygen entrapments, thereby speeding up the conduction process. This hypothesis is experimentally validated by the practically useful ionic conductivity (σ≈ 10^-4 S cm^-1 at 25 °C) and the improved safety parameters exhibited by a transparent flexible multi-cation (Li⁺, Na⁺ and Mg²⁺) conducting solid channel made up of the above mixed polymer system.

Microstructural Development and Rheological Study of a Nanocomposite Gel Polymer Electrolyte Based on Functionalized Graphene for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

For a liquid electrolyte-based dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC), long-term device instability is known to negatively affect the ionic conductivity and cell performance. These issues can be resolved by using the so called quasi-solid-state electrolytes. Despite the enhanced ionic conductivity of graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs), their inherent tendency toward aggregation has limited their application in quasi-solid-state electrolytes. In the present study, the GNPs were chemically modified by polyethylene glycol (PEG) through amidation reaction to obtain a dispersible nanostructure in a poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoro propylene) copolymer and polyethylene oxide (PVDF–HFP/PEO) polymer-blended gel electrolyte. Maximum ionic conductivity (4.11 × 10⁻³ S cm⁻¹) was obtained with the optimal nanocomposite gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) containing 0.75 wt% functionalized graphene nanoplatelets (FGNPs), corresponding to a power conversion efficiency of 5.45%, which was 1.42% and 0.67% higher than those of the nanoparticle-free and optimized-GPE (containing 1 wt% GNP) DSSCs, respectively. Incorporating an optimum dosage of FGNP, a homogenous particle network was fabricated that could effectively mobilize the redox-active species in the amorphous region of the matrix. Surface morphology assessments were further performed through scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results of rheological measurements revealed the plasticizing effect of the ionic liquid (IL), offering a proper insight into the polymer–particle interactions within the polymeric nanocomposite. Based on differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) investigations, the decrease in the glass transition temperature (and the resultant increase in flexibility) highlighted the influence of IL and polymer–nanoparticle interactions. The obtained results shed light on the effectiveness of the FGNPs for the DSSCs.

Studies on Magnetic and Dielectric Properties of Antiferromagnetically Coupled Dinuclear Cu(II) in a One-Dimensional Cu(II) Coordination Polymer

A one-dimensional Cu(II) coordination polymer with encapsulated antiferromagnetically coupled binuclear Cu(II) has been synthesized by using 5-nitroisophthalic acid (5-N-IPA) and 4-aminopyridine (4-APY) [Cu₂(5-N-IPA)₂(4-APY)₄] _n (1). Electrical properties are examined by complex impedance (Z*), dielectric permittivity (ε*), and ac conductivity studies at different frequencies (10 kHz-5 MHz) and temperatures (253-333 K). The contribution of grain and grain boundary has been explained by a different theoretical model. The variable temperature magnetic susceptibility data for compound 1 were recorded between 300 and 2 K. The shape of the curve (χ_M T vs T) indicates dominant antiferromagnetic coupling, which results from the interaction between the copper(II) atoms.

Dielectric properties of poly-(3-octylthiophene) thin films mixed with oleic acid capped cadmium selenide nanoparticles

Hybrid heterojunction thin films, based on poly-(3-octylthiophene) (P3OT) polymer and oleic acid (OA)-capped cadmium selenide (CdSe) nanoparticles (NPs) are prepared by a spin-coating method. The structural and morphological properties of the CdSe NPs and of the hybrid thin films are investigated. The results of the dielectric characterization show that conductivity of the hybrid thin films is dependent on frequency and CdSe NP concentration. The Nyquist plots of the impedance characteristics of the layers exhibit circular features irrespective of the NP concentration. The dependence of the dielectric permittivity on frequency and CdSe NP concentration are studied.

Hybrid heterojunction thin films, based on poly-(3-octylthiophene) (P3OT) polymer and oleic acid (OA)-capped cadmium selenide (CdSe) nanoparticles (NPs) are prepared by a spin-coating method.

Modified Thermal, Dielectric, and Electrical Conductivity of PVDF-HFP/LiClO4 Polymer Electrolyte Films by 8 MeV Electron Beam Irradiation

The polymer electrolyte films (poly((vinylidene fluoride)-co-hexafluoropropylene)/LiClO4@90:10 w/w, PHL10) were prepared by solution-casting technique and the effect of various dosages of electron beam (EB) irradiation on structure, morphology, thermal, dielectric, and conductivity properties at various dosages. The atomic force microscope topography image shows substantial change in surface morphology due to irradiation and the modification of chemical bonds through chain scission process with increased EB dose was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy studies. NMR studies confirm the change in structural properties due to irradiation. The X-ray diffractometer confirms the decreased crystallinity from 50.10 for unirradiated film to 40.96 at 120 kGy doses; hence, increase in amorphousity due to a decrease in melting temperature from 460 to 418 °C leads to the degradation of the polymer, and the differential scanning calorimetry study reveals the decreased crystallinity with increased irradiation dose. The dielectric and modulus parameters are observed to decrease with increasing frequency as well as temperature. The conductivity increases with frequency and EB dose due to the increased segmental motion of charged ions by chain scission/cross-linking process. The high conductivity of 1.81 × 10-3 S/cm with the corresponding relaxation time of 1.697 × 10-6 at 120 kGy dose was observed. The conduction mechanism reveals an Ohmic behavior and the I-V plot exhibits a gradual increase in current with applied voltage as well as irradiation dose. The electrochemical performance of the irradiated polymer electrolyte was improved significantly and hence the polymer electrolytes can be used in solid-state batteries and storage applications after altering the properties by the influence of irradiation.

Structural, electrical properties and dielectric relaxations in Na+-ion-conducting solid polymer electrolyte

In this paper, we have studied the structural, microstructural, electrical, dielectric properties and ion dynamics of a sodium-ion-conducting solid polymer electrolyte film comprising PEO₈-NaPF₆+  x wt. % succinonitrile. The structural and surface morphology properties have been investigated, respectively using x-ray diffraction and field emission scanning electron microscopy. The complex formation was examined using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and the fraction of free anions/ion pairs obtained via deconvolution. The complex dielectric permittivity and loss tangent has been analyzed across the whole frequency window, and enables us to estimate the DC conductivity, dielectric strength, double layer capacitance and relaxation time. The presence of relaxing dipoles was determined by the addition of succinonitrile (wt./wt.) and the peak shift towards high frequency indicates the decrease of relaxation time. Further, relations among various relaxation times ([Formula: see text]) have been elucidated. The complex conductivity has been examined across the whole frequency window; it obeys the Universal Power Law, and displays strong dependency on succinonitrile content. The sigma representation ([Formula: see text]) was introduced in order to explore the ion dynamics by highlighting the dispersion region in the Cole-Cole plot ([Formula: see text]) in the lower frequency window; increase in the semicircle radius indicates a decrease of relaxation time. This observation is accompanied by enhancement in ionic conductivity and faster ion transport. A convincing, logical scheme to justify the experimental data has been proposed.