Highly ion conductive poly(ethylene oxide)-based solid polymer electrolytes from hydrogen bonding layer-by-layer assembly

We report the development of a solid polymer electrolyte film from hydrogen bonding layer-by-layer (LBL) assembly that outperforms previously reported LBL assembled films and approaches battery integration capability. Films were fabricated by alternating deposition of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) layers from aqueous solutions. Film quality benefits from increasing PEO molecular weight even into the 10(6) range due to the intrinsically low PEO/PAA cross-link density. Assembly is disrupted at pH near the PAA ionization onset, and a potential mechanism for modulating PEO:PAA ratio within assembled films by manipulating pH is discussed. Ionic conductivity of 5 x 10(-5) S/cm is achievable after short exposure to 100% relative humidity (RH) for plasticization. Adding free ions by exposing PEO/PAA films to lithium salt solutions enhanced conductivity to greater than 10(-5) S/cm at only 52% RH and tentatively greater than 10(-4) S/cm at 100% RH. The excellent stability of PEO/PAA films even when exposed to 1.0 M salt solutions led to an exploration of LBL assembly with added electrolyte present in the adsorption step. Fortuitously, the modulation of PEO/PAA assembly by ionic strength is analogous to that of electrostatic LBL assembly and can be attributed to electrolyte interactions with PEO and PAA. Dry ionic conductivity was enhanced in films assembled in the presence of salt as compared to films that were merely exposed to salt after assembly, implying different morphologies. These results reveal clear directions for the evolution of these promising solid polymer electrolytes into elements appropriate for electrochemical power storage and generation applications.