Triblock Copolymer/Polyoxometalate Nanocomposite Electrolytes with Inverse Hexagonal Cylindrical Nanostructures
Liang Zhai, Shengchao Chai, Gang Wang, Wei Zhang, Haibo He, Haolong Li
Abstract
Abstract The primary issue of polymer electrolytes is to achieve high ion conductivity while retaining mechanical properties. A nanocomposite electrolyte with the inverse hexagonal cylindrical phase (three‐dimensionally continuous domains for ion conduction and embedded domains for mechanical support) is prepared through the electrostatic self‐assembly of a polyoxometalate (H 3 PW 12 O 40 , PW) and a triblock copolymer poly(N‐vinyl pyrrolidone)‐block‐polystyrene‐block‐poly(N‐vinyl pyrrolidone) (PSP). The cylindrical nanocomposite exhibits a conductivity of 1.32 mS cm −1 and a storage modulus of 4.6 × 10 7 Pa at room temperature. These two values are higher than those of pristine PSP by two orders of magnitudes and a factor of six, respectively. PW clusters are used as multifunctional nano‐additives (morphological inducer, proton conductor, and nano‐enhancer) and their incorporation achieves the simultaneous improvement in both conductive and mechanical performance.