Ionic conductivity change depending on thermal history in PEO-LiClO4 polymer electrolytes

Ionic conductivities of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)-based electrolytes are in a considerable inconsistency in many papers, varying more than three orders of magnitude for just same compositions. In PEO-salt-ceramic composite electrolytes, it has been also reported that the conductivity can be variant by almost three orders of magnitude according to thermal treatment and it has been regarded as a consequence of polymerceramic particle interaction. In this paper, we present a more systematic study on the change of ionic conductivity for ceramic-free PEO10LiClO4 polymer electrolytes, and found that the ionic conductivity can be variant more than hundred times according to thermal history. The slow recrystallization kinetics of PEO polymer is discussed to be responsible for the thermal history effect. Present results reveal that the effect of ceramic filler is not a main cause of the conductivity relaxation phenomenon.