Polymer segment motion and ion transport

Many polymer-salt complexes based on PEO can be obtained as crystalline or amorphous phases depending on the composition, temperature and method of preparation. The crystalline polymer-salt complexes invariably exhibit inferior conductivity to the amorphous complexes above their glass transition temperatures, where segments of the polymer are in rapid motion. This indicates the importance of polymer segmental motion in ion transport. The high conductivity of the amorphous phase is vividly seen in the temperature-dependent conductivity of poly(ethylene oxide) complexes of metal salts. Fig. 5.3, for which a metastable amorphous phase can be prepared and compared with the corresponding crystalline material (Stainer, Hardy, Whitmore and Shriver, 1984). For systems where the amorphous and crystalline polymer-salt coexist, NMR also indicates that ion transport occurs predominantly in the amorphous phase. An early observation by Armand and later confirmed by others was that the 

The indication that polymer segmental motion is necessary for ion transport has focused most of the current research and development on amorphous materials with low glass transition temperatures. 

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