Highly conductive solid polymer electrolyte membranes based on polyethylene glycol-bis-carbamate dimethacrylate networks

In an effort to fabricate highly conductive, stable solid-state polymer electrolyte membranes (PEM), polyethylene glycol bis-carbamate (PEGBC) was synthesized via condensation reaction between polyethylene glycol diamine and ethylene carbonate. Subsequently, dimethacrylate groups were chemically attached to both ends of PEGBC to afford polyethylene glycol-bis-carbamate dimethacrylate (PEGBCDMA) precursor having crosslinking capability. The melt-mixed ternary mixtures consisting of PEGBCDMA, succinonitrile plasticizer, and lithium trifluorosulphonyl imide salt were completely miscible in a wide compositional range. Upon photo-crosslinking, the neat PEGBCDMA network was completely amorphous exhibiting higher tensile strength, modulus, and extensibility relative to polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA) counterpart. Likewise, the succinonitrile-plasticized PEM network containing PEGBCDMA remained completely amorphous and transparent upon photo-crosslinking, showing superionic conductivity, improved thermal stability, and superior tensile properties with improved capacity retention during charge/discharge cycling as compared to the PEGDA-based PEM. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.