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We studied ion transport in amorphous PEO30NaI consisting of poly(ethylene oxide) and sodium iodide in a Na-to-O ratio of 30. Diffusion coefficients of the radiotracers 22Na and 125I were measured for temperatures between 67 and 180 degrees C and compared with the overall charge diffusivity deduced from dc conductivity data. To explain the observed discrepancy between the sum of the tracer diffusivities and the charge diffusivity we propose a detailed model which is based on the formation of neutral ion pairs. Evaluating simultaneously all experimental data within this model yields not only the true diffusion coefficient of all individual species but also the ion-pairing reaction constant as a function of temperature.

We measured glass transition temperatures T g as a function of the salt concentration in polymer electrolyte systems consisting of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) complexed either with sodium iodide (NaI) or lithium bis(trifluorosulfonylimide) (LiTFSI). At homologous compositions, T g of PEO–NaI is found to be generally larger than that of LiTFSI. The present T g values are markedly higher than previously reported reference data. Also the observed nonlinear concentration dependence differs from earlier studies. These findings are tentatively attributed to the more stringent preparation and measuring conditions maintained in the present work, thereby keeping organic solvent residues and water contamination at low levels. Also the high molecular weight of the polymer may have some influence. The measurements were performed by differential scanning calorimetry after quenching from the melt. We find that ex situ immersion quenching in liquid nitrogen leads to lower degrees of crystallinity than in situ quenching in the calorimeter environment. In addition, the strong decrease of the crystallinity with increasing salt content gives rise to pronounced steps in the heat capacity near T g for the more concentrated electrolytes.

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We explore in detail what information on ionic diffusivity and ion pairing can be exclusively gained from combining accurate direct-current conductivity data in polymer electrolytes with a novel evaluation model. The study was performed on two prototype systems based on poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) with known disparate ion-association properties, which are due to the dissimilar salt components being either sodium iodide (NaI) or lithium bis(trifluoromethane-sulfonyl)imide (LiN(CF(3)SO(2))(2) or LiTFSI). The temperature dependence of the conductivity can be described by an extended Vogel-Tammann-Fulcher (VTF) equation, which involves a Boltzmann factor containing the pair-formation enthalpy ΔH(p). We find a distinct increase of the positive ΔH(p) values with decreasing salt concentration and similarly clear trends for the pertinent VTF parameters. The analysis further reveals that PEO-NaI combines a high pair fraction with a high diffusivity of the I(-) ion. By contrast, PEO-LiTFSI appears to be characterized by a low ion-pairing tendency and a relatively low mobility of the bulky TFSI(-) ion. The observed marked differences between PEO-NaI and PEO-LiTFSI complexes of homologous composition are most pronounced at high temperatures and low salt concentrations.