Novel ion-conductive elastomer blends containing polyether-based solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) were prepared by the radical polymerization of oligo[(ethylene oxide)-
co-(propylene oxide)] methacrylate (M(EO/PO)) monomer with LiClO
4 in NBR. Obtained samples showed micro- (or nano-) scale Sea-Island phase separation, which was revealed from the TEM observation in case of NBR18/PM(EO/PO)
mono-LiClO
4 50/50 wt% blend, and the DC conductivity under dry N
2 (
σdry) was approximately 10
–8 S cm
–1 at 25 °C. The difference in the conductivity of blend samples between dry and wet conditions was very small, whereas the conductivity of PM(EO/PO)-LiClO
4 without NBR under wet condition (
σwet) was 10-times higher than
σdry. Moreover, the
σdry of NBR43 blend sample (NBR43/electrolyte = 30/70 wt%) was higher than that of the neat electrolyte. The complex impedance measurement revealed that AC ionic conductivity of the NBR43 blend sample was 6.7 × 10
–6 S cm
–1 at 25 °C and the value was approximately 6-times higher than that of the neat electrolyte. This may be caused by accelerated ion-conduction between the electrolyte islands or on the NBR/electrolyte interface where the resistance is very small because of the electrical interactions between Li ions (or
Li+−polyether complex domains) and nitrile groups of NBR.
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