Dynamics of poly(ethylene oxide)/Li$^{+}$ complexes confined in 1nm slits

Poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)/Li$^{+}$ complexes were nanoscopically confined in 1nm slit pores between inorganic solids of controlled Li$^{+}$ charge surface density ({\em cf.} varied cation exchange capacity Li$^{+}$ montmorillonites). The experimental systems were prepared by direct melt intercalation and investigated by dielectric relaxation spectroscopy over broad frequency and temperature ranges. Ionic conductivity/diffusion effects and the interfacial polarization relaxation process (due to the motion of the Li$^{+}$ ions in the slits) are systematically explored and analyzed. We present their dependences on frequency, temperature, Li$^{+}$ surface density, and PEO/Li$^{+}$ interactions. The above results are discussed in the context of previous Molecular Dynamics computer simulations, and mechanisms associated with the existence of water in the slit are thus identified.