Single-Li⁺ conductivity in ionomeric network

Ionomeric networks (IN) with lithium sulfate and salt-solvating oligo(oxyethylene) chain were synthesized on the purpose of improving the conductivity of single-Li⁺−ionic conductors. Li⁺−ionic conductivity depends considerably on the salt content of the INs although the apparent degree of cross-linking is fixed in a constant of 10 mol%. As salt content (Li/O value) equals 0.0467, conductivity of the IN containing neither small-molecular salt nor low molecular weight plasticizer reaches a maximum of 7×10⁻⁶ S/cm at 25°C. Temperature-conductivity relationship of the INs shows curved Arrhenius plots, suggesting that the ionic conduction is primarily influenced by segmental motion of the polymer host. In addition, WLF (Williams-Landel-Ferry) equation is used to analyze the conductivity data, from which the related WLF parameters are determined.