Abstract
Although extensive efforts have been devoted to understanding electronic transport in conjugated polymers, little is known about their ionic conduction characteristics in relation to polymer chemistry, processing, and morphology. This work presents a combined computational and experimental study on morphology and ion transport in thin-film blends of polythiophene derivatives bearing oligoethylene glycol side-chains and lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI). Using molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, we show that in the amorphous phase, the polythiophene derivative P3MEET bearing oligoethylene glycol side-chains with oxygen directly attached to the thiophene rings possesses lower Li+ ionic conductivity compared to its analog P3MEEMT that has a methyl spacer between the oxygen and the thiophene rings. Structural characterization of P3MEET and P3MEEMT thin film upon blending with LiTFSI indicates that adding LiTFSI expands the side-chain domains of the polymer crystallites and reduces the total ...
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
