Study of the ionic transport in polymer electrolyte using positron lifetime distribution method

Positron annihilation spectroscopy has been applied to measure the free-volume hole distribution in poly(ether urethane) as a function of temperature. The hole radius distribution determined from orthopositronium lifetime distribution is found to shift to a larger values with increasing temperature. This result, combined with the variation of ionic conductivity, suggests that carrier ions do not migrate naked but are bound to polymer segments through ion-dipole interaction forces, and the ion migration is controlled primarily by segmental motion of the polymer.