Lithium Ion Conduction in Diblock Polymer Electrolyte with Tethered Anion

Abstract Solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) may provide a path for next generation high‐performance, hazard‐free lithium ion batteries. However, the low lithium ion transference number (t Li+ ) and electrolyte conductivity limit device performance. In this study, a diblock copolymer with a polycarbonate first block and poly(sulfonated styrene) second block has been synthesized and characterized for conductivity and shows improved t Li+ . The low dissociation of lithium salts from the tethered sulfonate anion was overcome by incorporating plasticizers. The diblock SPE material had room temperature conductivity of up to 1.95 ⋅ 10 −6 S/cm, and lithium transference number of up to 0.83 with the tethered sulfonate anion.