Physical Insights into Ion Conduction in Polymeric Systems

Polymerized ionic liquids (PolyILs) are promising candidates for a broad range of applications. However, relatively low ionic conductivity limits their current use, and fundamental understanding of mechanisms controlling ion transport in PolyILs is critical for their rational design. In this talk, we present analysis of several PolyILs with different chemical structures and ion size. Combining results of dielectric spectroscopy with differential scanning calorimetry and nuclear magnetic resonance we analyzed the charge and mass transport of several different PolyILs. Based on Random Barrier Model, we demonstrate that conductivity relaxation provides information on ion diffusion and the magnitude of cross-correlations effects between ionic motions. We propose a model that estimates ionic diffusivity from characteristic times of the conductivity relaxation process and ionic concentration [1].

1. C. Gainaru, et al., J. Phys. Chem. B 120, 11074 (2016)