The performance of battery electrolytes depends on three independent transport properties: ionic conductivity, diffusion coefficient, and transference number. While rigorous experimental techniques for measuring conductivity and diffusion coefficients are well-established, popular techniques for measuring the transference number rely on the assumption of ideal solutions. We employ three independent techniques for measuring transference number, t + , in mixtures of polyethylene oxide (PEO) and lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl) imide (LiTFSI) salt. Transference numbers obtained using the steady-state current method pioneered by Bruce and Vincent, t +,SS , and those obtained by pulsed-field gradient NMR, t +,NMR , are compared against a new approach detailed by Newman and coworkers, t +,Ne , for a range of salt concentrations. The latter approach is rigorous and based on concentrated solution theory, while the other two approaches only yield the true transference number in ideal solutions. Not surprisingly, we find that t +,SS and t +,NMR are positive throughout the entire salt concentration range, and decrease monotonically with increasing salt concentration. In contrast, t +,Ne has a non-monotonic dependence on salt concentration and is negative in the highly-concentrated regime. Our work implies that ion transport in PEO/LiTFSI electrolytes at high salt concentrations is dominated by the transport of ionic clusters. Energy density and safety of conventional lithium-ion batteries is limited by the use of liquid electrolytes comprising mixtures of flammable organic solvents and lithium salts. Polymer electrolytes have the potential to address both limitations. However, the power and lifetime of batteries containing solvent-free polymer electrolytes remain inadequate for most applications. The performance of electrolytes in batteries depends on three independent transport properties: ionic conductivity, σ, salt diffusion coefficient, D, and cation transference number, t + .1 The poor performance of batteries with polymer electrolytes is generally attributed to low conductivity, which is on the order of 10 −3 S/cm at 90• C for mixtures of polyethylene oxide (PEO) and lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl) imide (LiTFSI) salt, 2,3 compared to that of liquid electrolytes which is 10 −2 S/cm at ambient temperatures. 4 Much of the literature in this field has been devoted to increasing the ionic conductivity of these materials.5-32 The purpose of our work is to shed light on another transport property of polymer electrolytes, the transference number.In a pioneering study, Ma and coworkers showed that the transference number of a mixture of PEO and a sodium salt is negative. 33Following this approach, others have obtained t + <0 in polymers containing lithium or sodium salts. [34][35][36] Nevertheless, the majority of reports for t + in polymer electrolytes fall between zero and one. [37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51] In contrast, all reports of t + in non-aqueous liquid electrolytes containi...

Transport of ions in polymer electrolytes is of significant practical interest, however, differences in the transport of anions and cations have not been comprehensively addressed. We present measurements of the electrochemical transport properties of lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI) in poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) over a wide range of PEO molecular weights and salt concentrations. Individual self-diffusion coefficients of the Li + and TFSI − ions, D + and D − , were measured using pulsed-field gradient nuclear magnetic resonance both in the dilute limit and at high salt concentrations. Conductivities calculated from the measured D + and D − values based on the Nernst−Einstein equation were in agreement with experimental measurements reported in the literature, indicating that the salt is fully dissociated in these PEO/LiTFSI mixtures. This enables determination of the molecular weight dependence of the cation transference number in both dilute and concentrated solutions. We introduce a new parameter, s, the number of lithium ions per polymer chain, that allows us to account for both the effect of salt concentration and molecular weight on cation and anion diffusion. Expressing cation and anion diffusion coefficients as functions of s results in a collapse of D + and D − onto a single master curve.

Nanostructured block copolymers are of particular interest as electrolytes in batteries with lithium metal anodes. The performance of electrolytes in batteries can be predicted only if three transport coefficients (ionic conductivity, κ, salt diffusion coefficient, D, and cation transference number, t 0 +) are known. We present complete electrochemical transport characterization of a microphaseseparated SEO block copolymer electrolyte by reporting κ, D, and t 0 + as functions of salt concentration. We compare the properties of the block copolymer electrolyte with those of PEO homopolymer electrolytes. Negative values of t 0 + are observed in many cases. Recasting the transport parameters in terms of Stefan-Maxwell coefficients provides insight into the nature of ion transport in these electrolytes.