Abstract
Fabrication of stretchable functional polymeric materials usually relies on the physical adhesion between functional components and elastic polymers, while the interfacial resistance is a potential problem. Herein, a versatile approach on the molecular-level intrinsically stretchable polymer materials with defined functionality is reported. The single-ion conducting polymer electrolytes (SICPEs) were employed to demonstrate the proposed concept along with its potential application in stretchable batteries/electronics with improved energy efficiency and prolonged cell lifetime. The obtained membranes exhibit 88-252% elongation before breaking, and the mechanical properties are well adjustable. The galvanostatic test of the assembled cells using the obtained SICPE membrane exhibited a good cycling performance with a capacity retention of 81.5% after 100 cycles. The applicability of a proposed molecular-level design for intrinsically stretchable polymer materials is further demonstrated in other types of stretchable functional materials, including poly(vinylcarbazole)-based semiconducting polymers and poly(ethylene glycol)-based gas separation membranes.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 3591-3601 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Macromolecules |
| Volume | 53 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 12 2020 |
Funding
This study was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division. G.Y. and J.N. acknowledges the support from Asst. Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) through the Advanced Battery Materials Research (BMR) Program. K.X. acknowledges the financial support for the rheology measurement from the NSF Polymer program (DMR-1408811). J.T. and K.D.V. would like to acknowledge the University of Tennessee for the financial support (start-up grant) and the Advanced Computer Facility (ACF) of the University of Tennessee for DFT calculation. A portion of this research was conducted at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, which is a DOE Office of Science User Facility. This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes. The Department of Energy will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan ( http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-accessplan ).
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Advanced Computer Facility | DE-AC05-00OR22725 |
| National Science Foundation | DMR-1408811, 1904657 |
| U.S. Department of Energy | |
| Office of Science | |
| Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy | |
| Basic Energy Sciences | |
| University of Tennessee | |
| Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering |
