Interfacial Polarization and Field-Induced Orientation in Nanostructured Soft-Ion Conductors

We study the effects of interfacial polarization in and upon a self-assembled ion conductor based on a lamellar block copolymer and a lithium salt. Impedance spectroscopy combined with orientation experiments enable a quantitative analysis of ionic polarization and a direct demonstration of its aligning effect on the interfaces. The time constant of the ionic polarization is larger as expected from Maxwell-Wagner-Sillars theory and attributed to diffusion effects. The much stronger orientation effect of ionic vs dielectric polarization offers a new route to align (ion conducting) microdomains.