Ion transport in polymerized lyotropic liquid crystals containing ionic liquid

In this work, we investigate the effect of morphology and segmental dynamics on ion transport in polymerized lyotropic liquid crystals (polyLLCs) containing 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate as ionic liquid (IL). We demonstrate that two important factors, which affect ion conduction in polyLLCs, are grain size and chain density at the interface. The polyLLC with large grain size (70 nm) shows significant reduction in ion conductivity (one order of magnitude) compared to its homopolymer/IL mixture. However, the polyLLC with small grain size (20 nm) has little difference in ion conductivity compared to its homopolymer/IL mixture. It is observed that decreasing the chain density enhances the interaction of IL with polymer chains and consequently slows the relaxation of polymer chains. In addition, comparing the dynamics of polymer chains in mixtures of homopolymer/IL and templated LLC mesophases shows that the confinement in LLC structure prolongs the relaxation of polymer chains.

Automated summary

This study investigates the impact of morphology and segmental dynamics on ion transport in polymerized lyotropic liquid crystals. The research highlights that grain size and chain density at the interface are important factors affecting ion conduction in polyLLCs. The study demonstrates that reducing chain density enhances interaction between IL and polymer chains, leading to slower relaxation of the polymer chains. Additionally, confinement in the LLC structure prolongs the relaxation of polymer chains compared to homopolymer/IL mixtures.