Polymer electrolytes consist of heptadecane functionalized poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) methacrylate and lithium methacrylate were prepared by radical copolymerization and neutralization. The polymer electrolyte was designed to have lithium ion conducting and crystalline domains into an inner-outer double cylinder like array by a macromonomer structure which results in interesting thermal behaviors. In fact, crystalline melting temperature of the heptadecane domain was found at 40 C but decreased gradually after introduction of lithium ions into the polymer electrolyte. The more the lithium ion concentration, the lower the melting temperature was observed in DSC study. This result suggests that the crystalline domain size of heptadecane became smaller and broader in their size and size distribution by increasing the lithium ion concentration. The polymer electrolytes reveal 2 Â 10 À7 S cm À1 of room temperature ionic conductivity due to the single-ion nature and quite low content ($38 wt %) of the conducting PEO domains. However it was found that there was no active migration of counter anion from the DC-polarization test which indicates a high lithium ion transference number of the polymer electrolyte.KEY WORDS: Macromonomer / Polymer Synthesis / Polymer Electrolyte / Heptadecane Crystalline / Single-ion / Polarization / Enhanced safety of portable electronic devices is one of the key concepts in recent lithium ion battery system by replacement of liquid electrolytes with less flammable polymer electrolytes. In addition to the safety issue, it is necessary to obtain several desired properties from a single polymer electrolytes such as a high ionic conductivities, good mechanical properties with a wide electrochemical stability window and high energy density and so on.1,2 For that reason, only a limited approach of the polymer electrolyte was reported in terms of several combined but not all of the properties. For example, poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)-based gel polymer electrolytes exhibit the ionic conductivities as high as $10 À3 S cm À1 at room temperature but it can not be free from the corrosion or fire hazards arising from the liquid electrolytes. [3][4][5] As an alternative, solvent free non-crosslinked solid polymer electrolytes have been suggested and developed for several years but it still remains strong challenge due to the limited segmental motion of the polymer chain, thereby lowering ionic conductivity.
6Beside ionic conductivity and mechanical properties, the lithium ion transference number of the electrolyte has recently received a great deal of attention due to the increased demand for further performance gains. In a binary salt system, a gradient in salt concentration change both the lithium diffusion coefficient and the density of charge carriers across the electrolyte and leading to undesired polarization, which eventually reduces the capacity of the battery.7-9 Single-ion conductor by tethering the counter anion to the polymer backbone or immobilize in a matrix might be a good strategy to addre...