Effect of Lithium Ion Concentration of a Single-Ion-Conducting Block Copolymer Electrolyte on the Morphology-Conductivity Relationship

Single-ion-conducting electrolytes are desirable for lithium metal batteries because they enable the sole conduction of lithium ions, the reacting species in lithium batteries; hence, they avert detrimental battery limitations due to salt concentration gradients. A single-ion-conducting block copolymer electrolyte, poly(ethylene oxide)-b-polystyrenesulfonyllithium (trifluoromethyl sulfonyl) imide (PEO-b-PSLiTFSI), was characterized \textit{in-situ} and \textit{ex-situ} for its ionic conductivity and morphology using AC impedance spectroscopy and small angle x-ray scattering, respectively. This work is the first to elucidate the relationship between the two properties in a single-ion block copolymer electrolyte. The transference number for the copolymers was determined to be greater than or equal to 0.87, indicating that to a good approximation, the block copolymers are single-ion conducting electrolytes. It was found that increasing the molecular weight of the PSLiTFSI block led to an increase in the extent of block copolymer block-mixing and a change in the conductivity profile from discontinuous to continuous. These effects can be attributed to the disruption of PEO crystallization, which was shown to drive microphase separation.