Effect of Morphology on Ion Transport in Polymerized Ionic Liquid Block Copolymers

We investigate the impact of morphology on ion transport in single-ion conductor polymerized ionic liquid (PIL) diblock copolymers. The morphology for two types of PIL block copolymers with different degrees of miscibility between blocks was studied using small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). For poly(methyl methacrylate-b-1-[(2-methacryloyloxy)ethyl]-3-butylimidazolium-bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide) (MMA-b-MEBIm-TFSI) PIL diblock copolymers, the partial miscibility between the MEBIm-TFSI and MMA blocks resulted in a weakly microphase-separated morphology without long-range order. In poly(styrene-b-1-[(2-acryloyloxy)ethyl]-3-butylimidazolium-TFSI) (S-b-AEBIm-TFSI) PIL block copolymers, a variety of self-assembled nanostructures including hexagonally packed cylinders, lamellae, and coexisting lamellae and network morphologies were observed by varying PIL composition. A comparison of ionic conductivity between PMMA- and PS-based PIL block copolymers suggests that strong microphase separation with well-defined structures can improve ionic conductivity. The local ion concentration and connectivity of the conducting microdomains also play an important role in ion conduction in these PIL block copolymers.