Nanoporous polymer electrolyte

Abstract

A nanoporous polymer electrolyte and methods for making the polymer electrolyte are disclosed. The polymer electrolyte comprises a crosslinked self-assembly of a polymerizable salt surfactant, wherein the crosslinked self-assembly includes nanopores and wherein the crosslinked self-assembly has a conductivity of at least 1.0×10 −6 S/cm at 25° C. The method of making a polymer electrolyte comprises providing a polymerizable salt surfactant. The method further comprises crosslinking the polymerizable salt surfactant to form a nanoporous polymer electrolyte.

1 . A polymer electrolyte comprising: 
 a crosslinked self-assembly of a polymerizable salt surfactant, wherein the crosslinked self-assembly includes nanopores and wherein the crosslinked self-assembly has a conductivity of at least 1.0×10 −6  S/cm at 25° C.    
   
   
       2 . The polymer electrolyte of  claim 1 , wherein the polymerizable salt surfactant has the formula:  
       [(X)R] n L(I) x M where:  X is a polymerizable functional group;    R is a tail group;    n is an integer signifying the number of tail groups;    I is an ionic head group;    x is an integer signifying the number of ionic head groups;    L is a linking moiety that connects the one or more tail groups to I; and    M is a cationic group.    
   
   
       3 . The polymer electrolyte of  claim 2 , wherein the I group comprises an aromatic sulfonate or a fluorinated compound.  
   
   
       4 . The polymer electrolyte of  claim 3 , wherein the aromatic sulfonate comprises a nitro aniline sulfonate, an amino aniline sulfonate, a methyl aniline sulfonate, an amino toluene sulfonate, a benzene disulfonate, or a sulfanilyl group.  
   
   
       5 . The polymer electrolyte of  claim 3 , wherein the fluorinated compound comprises a fluorinated amino acid.  
   
   
       6 . The polymer electrolyte of  claim 5 , wherein the fluorinated amino acid comprises α,α-difluoro-β-alanine.  
   
   
       7 . The polymer electrolyte of  claim 2 , wherein M comprises an alkali metal selected from the group consisting of Li + , Na + , K + , Rb + , Cs + , and combinations thereof.  
   
   
       8 . The polymer electrolyte of  claim 2 , wherein M comprises Li + .  
   
   
       9 . The polymer electrolyte of  claim 2 , wherein M comprises an alkaline earth metal selected from the group consisting of Be 2+ , Mg 2+ , Ca 2+ , Sr 2+ , or Ba 2+ , and combinations thereof.  
   
   
       10 . The polymer electrolyte of  claim 2 , wherein M comprises a transition metal selected from the group consisting of Ag + , Ni 2+ , Ni 3+ , Cd 3+ , or Zn 2+ , and combinations thereof.  
   
   
       11 . The polymer electrolyte of  claim 2 , wherein X comprises an acrylate, a methacrylate, a diene, an alkynyl group, an allyl group, a vinyl group, an acrylamide, a hydroxyl group, a fumarate group, an isocyanate group, or combinations thereof.  
   
   
       12 . The polymer electrolyte of  claim 2 , wherein L comprises an alkylene group, an amide group, an ether group, an amine group, an alkene group or combinations thereof.  
   
   
       13 . The polymer electrolyte of  claim 2 , wherein L comprises an aromatic group.  
   
   
       14 . The polymer electrolyte of  claim 11 , wherein the aromatic group comprises a benzyl group, a cyclohexyl group, a halo-benzyl group, a phenyl group, a phenacyl group, an aniline group, a benzoyl group, a benzoyloxy group, a benzyloxycarbonyl group, a nitrobenzoyl group, or a nitrobenzyl group.  
   
   
       15 . The polymer electrolyte of  claim 2 , wherein R comprises a hydrocarbon chain.  
   
   
       16 . The polymer electrolyte of  claim 13 , wherein the hydrocarbon chain contains between 5 and 20 carbons.  
   
   
       17 . The polymer electrolyte of  claim 2 , wherein n is 3.  
   
   
       18 . The polymer electrolyte of  claim 2 , wherein x is 1.  
   
   
       19 . The polymer electrolyte of  claim 1 , wherein the polymerizable salt surfactant comprises a lyotropic liquid crystal (LLC) monomer.  
   
   
       20 . The polymer electrolyte of  claim 1 , wherein the nanopores have an average pore size in the range between about 5 Angstrom and about 50 Angstroms.  
   
   
       21 . The polymer electrolyte of  claim 1 , wherein the crosslinked self-assembly comprises a hexagonal phase, an inverted hexagonal phase, or combinations thereof.  
   
   
       22 . The polymer electrolyte of  claim 1 , wherein the crosslinked self-assembly comprises a cubic phase, a bicontinuous cubic phase, or combinations thereof.  
   
   
       23 . The polymer electrolyte of  claim 1 , wherein the crosslinked self-assembly comprises a lamellar phase.  
   
   
       24 . The polymer electrolyte of  claim 1 , wherein the crosslinked self-assembly comprises a crosslinking agent selected from the group consisting of an ethylene glycol dimethacrylate derivative, an ethylene glycol diacrylate derivative, a methyelenebisacrylamide derivative, or a divinylbenzene derivative.  
   
   
       25 . The polymer electrolyte of  claim 1  wherein the crosslinked self-assembly has a conductivity of at least 1.0×10−5 S/cm at 25° C.  
   
   
       26 . A method of making a polymer electrolyte comprising: 
 a) providing a polymerizable salt surfactant; and    b) crosslinking the polymerizable salt surfactant to form a nanoporous polymer electrolyte.    
   
   
       27 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the polymerizable salt surfactant has the formula:  
       [(X)R] n L(I) x M where:  X is a polymerizable functional group;    R is a tail group;    n is an integer signifying the number of tail groups;    I is an ionic head group having a first charge;    x is an integer signifying the number of ionic head groups;    L is a linking moiety that connects the one or more tail groups to the ionic head group; and    M is an ionic group having a second charge, wherein the second charge is opposite the first charge.    
   
   
       28 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein I comprises a cation.  
   
   
       29 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein I comprises phosphonium or ammonium.  
   
   
       30 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein M comprises an anion selected from the group consisting of a hydroxyl, a halide, a benzoate, a halogenated benzoate, a carboxylate, a halogenated carboxylate, or an acetate.  
   
   
       31 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein M comprises OH − .  
   
   
       32 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the first charge is a positive charge.  
   
   
       33 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein x is 2.  
   
   
       34 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein n is 2.  
   
   
       35 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the polymerizable salt surfactant further comprises a Gemini surfactant having the following structure:  
     
       
         
         
             
             
         
       
     
     wherein Y is an aliphatic group.  
   
   
       36 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein Y contains between 1 to 10 carbons.  
   
   
       37 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the crosslinking the polymerizable salt surfactant comprises photopolymerization, thermal crosslinking, electron-beam irradiation or chemical crosslinking.  
   
   
       38 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the providing a polymerizable salt surfactant comprises synthesizing the polymerizable salt surfactant.  
   
   
       39 . The method of  claim 38 , wherein the synthesizing the polymerizable salt surfactant comprises reacting an acid chloride and a salt precursor.  
   
   
       40 . The method of  claim 39 , wherein the salt precursor comprises a sulfonate derivative selected from the group consisting of metanilate, sulfanilate, nitro aniline sulfonate, amino aniline sulfonate, methyl aniline sulfonate, or amino phenol sulfonate.  
   
   
       41 . The method of  claim 39 , wherein the acid chloride comprises a benzoyl derivative.  
   
   
       42 . The method of  claim 26 , further comprising providing a hydrophobic polymer and combining the hydrophobic polymer with the polymerizable salt surfactant.  
   
   
       43 . The method of  claim 42 , wherein the hydrophobic polymer comprises butyl rubber, halobutyl rubber, butadiene rubber, neoprene rubber, styrene-butadiene rubber, poly(propylene oxide), poly(vinylchloride), poly(propylene), poly(ethylene), poly(acrylates), poly(methacrylates), poly(styrene), poly(amides), polyesters, poly(lactic acid), poly(glycolic acid), or combinations thereof.  
   
   
       44 . The method of  claim 26 , further comprising providing a crosslinking agent selected from the group consisting of an ethylene glycol dimethacrylate derivative, an ethylene glycol diacrylate derivative, a methyelenebisacrylamide derivative, or a divinylbenzene derivative.  
   
   
       45 . The method of  claim 26 , further comprising casting the polymerizable surfactant on to a substrate to form a film or coating.  
   
   
       46 . The method of  claim 45 , further comprising dissolving the polymerizable surfactant in a solvent selected from the group consisting of acetone, tetrahydrofuran, acetonitrile, hexane, water, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, toluene or chloroform before casting the polymerizable surfactant on the substrate.  
   
   
       47 . The method of  claim 45 , wherein the substrate comprises a metal, a polymer, a composite, or combinations thereof.  
   
   
       48 . The method of  claim 45 , wherein the substrate comprises a macroporous polymer membrane support.  
   
   
       49 . The method of  claim 26 , further comprising pouring the polymerizable surfactant into a mold.  
   
   
       50 . A battery comprising a nanoporous polymer electrolyte, wherein the nanoporous polymer electrolyte comprises a crosslinked self-assembly of a polymerizable surfactant having a conductivity of at least 1×10 −6  S/cm at 25° C.