Abstract

Plastics have long been utilized as separators and structural components in electrochemical energy storage devices. Modern research focuses on employing polymers as more active battery components within electrodes and electrolytes. Safety and performance of batteries is strongly dictated by the performance of the electrolyte. Polymer electrolytes offer advantages over liquid and inorganic solid-state electrolytes, as they are non-leakable and non-flammable, yet flexible. In this talk, I will discuss my group's effort to understand ion transport in novel polymer-based electrolytes with various types of characterization tools.