Poly(ionic liquid)s with controlled architectures and their use in the making of ionogels with high conductivity and tunable rheological properties

Abstract

We describe the preparation as well as the electrochemical and mechanical properties of a series of novel well-defined poly(ionic liquids) (PILs) featuring a finely tuned cross-linking ratio. We generate a variety of such PILs with various cationic moieties and cross-linking ratios starting from a common polymeric platform. Mixing those polymers with an appropriate ionic-liquid leads to ionogel electrolytes exhibiting good ionic conductivities (up to 1.2 mS cm⁻¹ at 298 K), high electrochemical stability (up to 6 V) and a yield-stress fluid mechanical behavior, which enables their use as solid electrolytes. We demonstrate that depending on the cationic moieties, this ability to be solid at rest and reversibly fluid when sheared is obtained by two different mechanisms.