Structural Study of Inorganic Oxides in a Hybrid Organic−Inorganic Solid Polymer Electrolyte

Abstract

Polymer−inorganic composite electrolytes very often show superior properties as compared to simple polymer electrolytes, and this enhancement is often ascribed to the structure and interfacial properties of the composite. Here, the structure of aluminosilica (AlSi) domains formed within organic−inorganic solid polymer electrolytes was studied using solid state 29Si and 27Al magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and nitrogen sorption experiments following material calcinations, to determine how the composite affects the properties in this class of polymer electrolytes. The major feature of all the calcined AlSi's based on 600 MW poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) is the presence of two types of morphologies: nanoparticles with sizes of about 20−60 nm, and larger platelike particles. Increasing the amount of AlSi in the organic−inorganic composite material (OICM) increases the fraction of platelike particles relative to nanoparticles. The nanoparticles are practically nonporous, ...