Harnessing Structural and Dynamic Heterogeneity to Direct Ion Transport in Plastic Crystal-Polymer Composite Solid-Ion Conductors

TL;DR

This paper reveals how a novel plastic crystal-polymer high entropy interphase enhances ion transport in solid-ion conductors, leading to improved performance in lithium-metal batteries.

Contribution

It uncovers the formation of a high entropy interphase that boosts ion diffusivity without polymer participation, enabling better SICs for batteries.

Findings

Ion diffusivity in the interphase is ten times higher than in other environments.

The plastic crystal's molar volume increase near polymers facilitates ion conduction.

Polymer does not directly participate in ion transport, contrary to expectations.

Abstract

Solid-ion conductors (SICs) comprising non-ionic plastic crystals and lithium salts often require compositing with polymers to render them processable for use in solid-state lithium-metal batteries. Here, we show that polymer-doped plastic crystal SICs form a previously unrecognized plastic crystal-polymer high entropy interphase, where ions selectively partition and exhibit a higher fraction of matrix-separated ion pairs than in the bulk. Liithium ion diffusivity in this interphase is an order of magnitude higher than in other microenvironments due to an increase in the molar volume of the plastic crystal in the vicinity of the polymer, which increases the frequency of bond rotation in the plastic crystal required for ion conduction. Surprisingly, the polymer does not directly participate in ion transport. These insights led us to prepare SICs from specific polymers, plastic crystals, and lithium halide salts that concomitantly deliver fast ion conduction at ambient and sub-ambient temperatures and sustainable passivation of the lithium anode.