Synthesis and Properties of a Single-Ion Conducting ABA-Type Block Copolymer

Abstract

An ABA-type block copolymer with A-blocks based on poly[(4-phenyl)benzyl methacrylate] and a B-block consisting of a random copolymer of an anionic monomer bearing Li+ and poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate was synthesized by the RAFT polymerization. The molar masses (76.4 kDa) and mass ratio of ionic and nonionic blocks (MI/MN = 2.1) allowed for obtaining the solid polymer electrolyte with ionic conductivity up to 3.7×10–7 S/cm (25 °C) and improved thermal properties (Tg2 = 79 °C, T5% = 263 °C) compared to the ion-conducting random copolymer (Tg = –50 °C, T5% = 170 °C). An important task is to establish the relationship between the structure and the type of morphology forming in the melt and the ionic conductivity.