Ionic conductivities for poly(ethylene oxide) complexes with lithium salts of monobasic and dibasic acids and blends of poly(ethylene oxide) with lithium salts of anionic polymers

Lithium salts of two polyanionic addition polymers containing alkyl sulphonic acid and perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acid side groups were prepared. Blends of these polymers were formed with poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO). The blend containing alkyl sulphonate units showed some phase separation but this was not observed for the blend containing perfluoroalkyl carboxylate groups. In the latter case a comparatively high conductivity of ∼10−5 Ω−1 cm−1 at 374 K was obtained. The anionic units in these blends are expected to be virtually immobile. Complexes formed from PEO and the Li-salt of hexafluoroglutaric acid had similar high ionic conductivities and there are grounds for supposing that the anions in these complexes may also be substantially immobilized. In addition, conductivity values were obtained for some PEO complexes containing lithium salts of some monobasic acids and it was found that the complex formed from the Li-salt of the strongest acid gave the highest conductivity (∼4 × 10−4 Ω−1 cm−1 at 373 K for a PEO-LiSO3CF3 complex).