Electrochemical and thermal properties of polymer electrolytes based on poly(epichlorohydrin-co-ethylene oxide-co-ally glycidyl ether)

A series of novel electrolytes based on the terpolymer host, poly (epichlorohydrin-co-ethylene oxide-co-allyl glycidyl ether) with lithium perchlorate and lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide have been prepared and characterized by conductivity measurements, cyclic voltammetry at a gold microelectrode and thermal analysis. Electrolyte compositions, represented as p(EEO-AGE)LiX(wt%), were produced with lithium salt compositions between 0.5 and 53 wt% (where wt% indicates amount of lithium salt present in the epichlorohydrin-co-ethylene oxide-co-allyl glycidyl host matrix). The guest salt and host polymer were dissolved in tetrahydrofuran and cast to produce thin, free-standing electrolyte films. The p(EEO-AGE)LiX(wt%) (X = ClO4 and TFSI) electrolytes showed encouraging levels of ionic conductivity and acceptable thermal stability. Electrolytes based on this host polymer were obtained as completely amorphous films with good mechanical properties. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.