Analysis of diffusion in a solid polymer electrolyte in the context of a phase-separated system -: art. no. 042803

The salt and ionic diffusion coefficients of the salt LiN(CF3SO2)(2) (LiTFSI) dissolved in high-molecular-weight poly(ethylene oxide) [PEO] have been measured over a broad concentration range, and the interrelationship of the measured values is demonstrated to be in good agreement with basic electrochemical theory. In the light of recently published structural findings, we propose a biphasic model for the conducting amorphous state, consisting of a stoichiometric P(EO)(6)LiTFSI phase dispersed into a salt-containing disordered phase, and analyze the ionic diffusion data within the framework of the Bruggeman-Landauer theory. The agreement between experimental and fitted data is shown to be excellent. We conclude by pointing out and discussing potential weaknesses of our analysis.