Enhanced ionic mobility in organic ionic plastic crystal - dendrimer solid electrolytes

We report the first study of the characterisation of the organic ionic plastic crystal (OIPC) N-ethyl-N-methylpyrrolidinium tetrafluoroborate (C2mpyrBF4) upon mixing with a dendrimer additive. Whereas previous reports of OIPC composite formation (i.e. with ceramics and polymers) have typically reported a decrease in the conductivity when lithium salt had been added, the addition of dendrimer is shown to lead to a substantial enhancement in the lithium containing system, approaching 3 orders of magnitude at 30°C. Mechanical analysis indicates that dendrimer addition leads to a softer more ductile material while microscopy shows that the dendrimer is uniformly distributed and that the crystal microstructure is substantially disrupted, ultimately adopting a dendritic microstructure at 1mol% dendrimer content. Thermal analysis indicates a new phase in the lithium OIPC system, the crystallisation of which is suppressed in the presence of dendrimer. Instead, a decrease in the phase transition enthalpies indicates a large increase in the amorphous component of the Lithium OIPC, particularly for the most conductive system -C2mpyrBF4 +10mol% LiBF4 +0.1mol% dendrimer. Variable temperature powder X-ray diffraction confirms the presence of a new distinct phase and its absence in the presence of dendrimer. A change in the progression of the thermal phase behaviour of the OIPC in the presence of dendrimer is also shown, exhibiting the phase I (high temperature) structure at temperatures below the phase II-I transition.