Polymer electrolytes are promising materials for development of the next generation of energy storage devices, including lithium-ion polymer batteries, due to their exceptional chemical and mechanical stability, high energy density and long lifetimes. Understanding the ionic diffusion mechanism in polymer electrolytes is critical to the development of advanced lithium-ion batteries. A molecular dynamics-based characterization of structures and diffusion in poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) with lithium and bis(trifluoromethy-sulfonyl-imide) (TFSI) ions imbedded into the PEO structure have been performed across a range of temperatures, molecular weights and ion concentrations, with relative ionic diffusion coefficients shown to be in good agreement with experimental measurements. To determine details of the atomistic diffusion mechanism, the chain coordination of Li atoms, polymer motion, and temperature dependences of the intrachain and interchain diffusion contributions into the total ionic diffusion coefficients on ionic concentration and molecular weight were analyzed. We find that the most diffusive Li atoms exhibit frequent interchain hopping, whereas the least diffusive Li atoms rather oscillate or “shift” coordination between two or more polymer chains. These shifts may actually reduce the segmental motion of the PEO-LiTFSI polymer, which is important for the fast lithium-ion diffusion. Good agreement between experiment and theory validates the approach and methodology used in this study and its further applications for predicting the structure and ionic conductivity of new advanced polymer materials for a new generation of electrochemical devices.

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by Bosch Energy Research Network Grant No. 13.01.CC11.