Achieving fast ion transport and high ionic conductivity in glassy polymers via higher order molecular structure design.
Achieving fast ion transport and high ionic conductivity in glassy polymers via higher order molecular structure design.
Abstract
Multifunctional conductive polymers have been re-designed to achieve both high electronic conductivity and ionic conductivity. In the conventional design of conductive polymers, organic functionalities are introduced via bottom-up synthetic approaches to enhance specific properties by modification of the individual polymers. Unfortunately, the addition of functional groups leads to conflicting effects, limiting their scaled synthesis and broad applications. Here we show a conductive polymer with simple primary building blocks that can be thermally processed to develop hierarchically ordered structures (HOS) with well-defined ordered morphologies. Our approach to constructing permanent HOS in conductive polymers leads to fast ion transport, high ionic and electronic conductivity properties, and mechanical robustness, which are critical for many electrochemical applications.
Speaker
Gao LiuDr. Gao Liu is a Senior Scientist and Group Leader of the Applied Energy Materials Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Liu group research combines synthetic chemistry, composite engineering and electrochemistry to solve interdisciplinary problems in batteries. Dr. Liu’s lab uses advanced diagnostics to understand fundamental and critical issues in energy systems, and synthetic techniques to develop new materials that improve overall system performance. Dr. Liu’s on-going researches in energy storage cover electrode binder, silicon, sulfur and lithium metal materials, electrode engineering, electrolytes and additives, and solid-state conductors. Dr. Liu has over 190 peer-reviewed publications and over 30 granted patents.