Lithium coordination and mobility in gel electrolytes based on an acrylate polymer with ethylene oxide side chains

Multinuclear NMR has been used to investigate the structure and mobility of a series of polymer gel electrolytes. The co-polymers used as matrixes in the gels have acrylate backbones and side chains of ethylene oxide, where the length of the side chains has been varied, while the ratio of acrylate to ethylene oxide has been kept constant. The electrolyte is a mixture of lithium perchlorate and two solvents, ethylene carbonate and gamma butyrolactone. C-13 spectra of the different gel electrolytes shows that both solvents interact with the salt, and that the strength of the interaction increases with decreasing length of the polymer side chains. It also appears that the lithium ions show no selectivity between the two types of solvent. Furthermore, the lithium chemical shift moves progressively upfield with increasing length of the side chains, showing a gradual change in interaction from lithium-solvent to lithium-(ethylene oxide).