Effect of C60 as a filler on the morphology of polymer-salt complexes based on poly(ethylene oxide) and LiCF3SO3

The inclusion of C-60 as a filler in complexes of paly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and LiCF3SO3 salt reduces the degree of crystallinity of the material at ambient temperature. The observed effects are manifested as changes in characteristic vibrational modes of the crystalline polymer in FT-Raman spectra over a range of temperatures. The introduction of relatively small amounts of C-60 also stabilizes ionic substructures present in these systems. Interestingly, no internal modes of the C-60 molecule are affected by dissolution in PEO or by the presence of varying amounts of LiCF3SO3 salt in the matrix. From the absence of a shift in the C-60:s charge-transfer-sensitive A(g)(2) mode, in particular, it appears as though C-60 essentially acts as an inert filler in these complexes.