Poly(ethylene oxide)-Based Composite Electrolytes Filled with Periodic Mesoporous Silica for Solid State Ionics

Mesoporous silica (MPS) was used for poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)-based solid polymer electrolytes as novel inorganic filler. For improvement in ionic conductivity in solid state, a room temperature ionic liquid (IL), 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate, was introduced into periodic nano-tunnels of MPS, and the modified MPS (IL-MPS) was filled with PEO-LiBF4 electrolyte. Ionic conductivity of neat-MPS-filled composites was approximately 4-fold higher than that of the original electrolyte. On the other hand, the conductivity was more than 11-fold enhanced by addition of IL-MPS, to be more than 10−6 S/cm at 30°C and at least 10 wt% silica contents. The conductivity increased with increasing IL-MPS contents, to be a maximum value of approximately 3×10−6 S/cm at 30°C and at 40 wt%. Dynamic mechanical measurements for neat- and IL-MPS composites revealed that the addition of fillers improves storage modulus of PEO-based electrolytes at room temperature. The addition of IL-MPS was able to realize the improvement in both ionic conductivity and storage modulus.