Can silica nanoparticles improve lithium transport in polymer electrolytes?

Fuente: arXiv
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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Dalmas, Joel Martin, van Roekeghem, Ambroise, Mingo, Natalio, Mossa, Stefano
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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author Dalmas, Joel Martin
van Roekeghem, Ambroise
Mingo, Natalio
Mossa, Stefano
author_facet Dalmas, Joel Martin
van Roekeghem, Ambroise
Mingo, Natalio
Mossa, Stefano
contents The question of if silica nanoparticles can enhance the ionic conductivity of a polymer electrolyte above its crystallization temperature has remained unclear for the two decades following the first experiments on these systems. We use Molecular Dynamics simulations to decipher the atomic scale mechanisms affecting the properties of LiTFSI-poly(ethylene oxide) electrolytes upon the addition of silica nanoparticles. At any ionic concentration, adding nanoparticles significantly decreases the conductivity. Most of this reduction can be simply accounted for by the diffusion equation, resulting from the fact that the space occupied by the nanoparticles is made inactive and unable to sustain ionic diffusion. We identify two distinct regimes, above and below a concentration threshold, corresponding to very different ionic distributions and coordination features of the various species. The lack of conductivity enhancement observed in the simulations supports the conclusions of some recent measurements, and disagrees with the earliest experimental reports on hybrid silica/polyethylene-oxide electrolytes.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2312_05681
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Can silica nanoparticles improve lithium transport in polymer electrolytes?
Dalmas, Joel Martin
van Roekeghem, Ambroise
Mingo, Natalio
Mossa, Stefano
Soft Condensed Matter
Materials Science
The question of if silica nanoparticles can enhance the ionic conductivity of a polymer electrolyte above its crystallization temperature has remained unclear for the two decades following the first experiments on these systems. We use Molecular Dynamics simulations to decipher the atomic scale mechanisms affecting the properties of LiTFSI-poly(ethylene oxide) electrolytes upon the addition of silica nanoparticles. At any ionic concentration, adding nanoparticles significantly decreases the conductivity. Most of this reduction can be simply accounted for by the diffusion equation, resulting from the fact that the space occupied by the nanoparticles is made inactive and unable to sustain ionic diffusion. We identify two distinct regimes, above and below a concentration threshold, corresponding to very different ionic distributions and coordination features of the various species. The lack of conductivity enhancement observed in the simulations supports the conclusions of some recent measurements, and disagrees with the earliest experimental reports on hybrid silica/polyethylene-oxide electrolytes.
title Can silica nanoparticles improve lithium transport in polymer electrolytes?
topic Soft Condensed Matter
Materials Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2312.05681