Exploring nonlinear ion dynamics in polymer electrolytes from the perspective of hopping models

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Wettstein, Alina, Diddens, Diddo, Heuer, Andreas
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Wettstein, Alina
Diddens, Diddo
Heuer, Andreas
author_facet Wettstein, Alina
Diddens, Diddo
Heuer, Andreas
contents Relevant information about the nature of the dynamics of ions in electrolytes can be obtained by studying the nonlinear dependence on an applied electric field. Here we use molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to study the field effects for a polymer electrolyte, i.e. a mixture of PEO with Li-TFSI salt, for a range of different temperatures and salt contents. Specifically, the effects of the electric field on the current and the diffusivities parallel and orthogonal to the electric fields are analyzed. It is argued that the nonlinear effects in the weak-field regime provide information about the nature of the disorder. In contrast, the nonlinear effects in the high-field regime allow one to extract effective hopping distances. They are in close agreement with typical nearest-neighbor length scales obtained from detailed structural analysis and are hardly dependent on the salt content. Furthermore, from the study of the temperature dependence in the high-field regime, effective barrier heights can be determined, which in this regime decrease linearly with increasing field. The disappearance of the effective barriers, estimated by linear extrapolation, occurs close to the fields where the MD simulations start to be numerically unstable. Finally, the interpretation is supported by a comparison with analytically known solutions of disordered hopping models.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_16136
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Exploring nonlinear ion dynamics in polymer electrolytes from the perspective of hopping models
Wettstein, Alina
Diddens, Diddo
Heuer, Andreas
Soft Condensed Matter
Chemical Physics
Relevant information about the nature of the dynamics of ions in electrolytes can be obtained by studying the nonlinear dependence on an applied electric field. Here we use molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to study the field effects for a polymer electrolyte, i.e. a mixture of PEO with Li-TFSI salt, for a range of different temperatures and salt contents. Specifically, the effects of the electric field on the current and the diffusivities parallel and orthogonal to the electric fields are analyzed. It is argued that the nonlinear effects in the weak-field regime provide information about the nature of the disorder. In contrast, the nonlinear effects in the high-field regime allow one to extract effective hopping distances. They are in close agreement with typical nearest-neighbor length scales obtained from detailed structural analysis and are hardly dependent on the salt content. Furthermore, from the study of the temperature dependence in the high-field regime, effective barrier heights can be determined, which in this regime decrease linearly with increasing field. The disappearance of the effective barriers, estimated by linear extrapolation, occurs close to the fields where the MD simulations start to be numerically unstable. Finally, the interpretation is supported by a comparison with analytically known solutions of disordered hopping models.
title Exploring nonlinear ion dynamics in polymer electrolytes from the perspective of hopping models
topic Soft Condensed Matter
Chemical Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.16136