RUI: Dicarboximide-functionalized Oxanorbornyl Homopolymers and Diblock Copolymers for Use as Solid Polymer Electrolytes

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NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY:Energy storage devices, such as lithium-ion batteries, are an increasingly important technology to most areas of society due to their broad use in devices from electronics and power tools to automobiles. As news reports have noted, improved safety and performance of such batteries are vital as their use grows. This research project will develop and study new polymer materials for use as membranes in lithium-ion batteries. These polymers might allow batteries to be constructed out of materials that are much less flammable than current ones, and to be lighter, flexible, or have more storage. This work will also include collaborations with scientists at other institutions and national facilities such as Argonne National Laboratory. Benefits to the future scientific workforce include undergraduate student involvement in all aspects of this research at a predominantly undergraduate institution. Outreach activities will be undertaken with underrepresented high school students through involvement with the Mathematics, Engineering, and Science Achievement (MESA) program. TECHNICAL SUMMARY:New polymers will be developed for potential use as solid polymer electrolyte supports in lithium-ion or other next-generation batteries. The major objective of this research is to better understand how to design polymers to facilitate the decoupling of ion motion from local segmental motion. These polymers will be based on dicarboximide oxanorbornene monomers. Homopolymers and diblock copolymers will be synthesized using ring-opening metathesis polymerization. The homopolymers studied will focus on structures that have high salt solubility and an increased fragility parameter as well as structures that incorporate the salt as part of the monomer itself. The former will be studied as a function of molecular weight and with structural changes to increase the fragility parameter. The diblock copolymers will incorporate the ion conducting monomer in one block and a high modulus monomer in the other block. The diblock copolymer morphologies should allow the blending of these two properties on a nanometer lengthscale. These new materials will be evaluated by dielectric spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, DSC, and potentially solid-state NMR. If scattering data (X-rays or neutrons) are needed, this research will be conducted with collaborators or at national laboratories. Undergraduate student researchers will be involved in all aspects of this research.