Inion Sulfocation Exchange Membranes Plasticized with Propylene Carbonate

The rapidly growing field of portable energy sources requires the search for and development of efficient materials for such devices. To enhance the safety of the most common metal-ion batteries (lithium-ion and sodium-ion), it has been proposed to replace the liquid electrolyte with a unipolar conductive gel-polymer electrolyte based on a Nafion-like electrolyte (Inion) plasticized with aprotic solvents. This study presents the results of investigating the thermal stability, molecular and supramolecular structure, as well as the ionic conductivity of Inion membranes in lithium and sodium forms plasticized with propylene carbonate, using methods including synchronous thermal analysis, IR spectroscopy, small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), and impedance spectroscopy.