Enhanced Conductivity via Extraction of Hydrocarbon Templates from Nanophase-Separated PEO–LiOTf Polymer Electrolyte Films

A series of poly­(ethylene oxide)–LiOTf electrolyte films were prepared using a variety of hydrocarbon templates as nanofillers, resulting in observable nanophase separation in the polymer electrolyte. Upon partial extraction of the nanofiller template, an enhanced conductivity over 2 orders of magnitude was measured using ac impedance. Scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and thermogravimetric analysis were employed to characterize the porosity, composition, and mass loss of template-extracted and nonextracted film samples.