ABSTRACT An appropriately end‐functionalized amphiphilic four‐armed star diblock copolymer comprising hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) external blocks (80 mol%) and hydrophobic poly(propylene glycol) (PPG) inner blocks (20 mol%), Tetronic T1107, of a molar mass of 15 000 g mol −1 was used to form a model amphiphilic polymer conetwork (APCN) containing an ionic liquid mixture with lithium and imidazolate cations. The resulting ionogel was characterized in terms of its ionic conductivity, relevant to its potential employment as a gel polymer electrolyte in lithium‐ion batteries. To this end, a series of samples were formulated, differing in the initial overall concentration of star diblock copolymers in the reaction mixture, the stoichiometry between the two reactive star polymer end‐groups, and the catalyst concentration. An optimal room temperature ionic conductivity of 0.4 mS cm −1 was exhibited by a particular formulation, attributed to a combination of a lower network crosslinking density and a higher (final) volume fraction of the ionic liquid mixture. This maximum room temperature ionic conductivity value compares favorably with the corresponding values measured for similar ionogels housed in APCNs based on Pluronics and four‐armed PEG stars.
Apostolides et al. (Sat,) studied this question.