| Abstract Scope |
Polymer-based electrolytes have been proposed as replacements for liquid electrolytes used in state-of-the-art energy storage devices because of their high electrochemical, thermal, and mechanical stability, but polymer-based electrolytes are still limited by their low ionic conductivity. Polymer-ceramic composite electrolytes have been shown to have higher ionic conductivity, but the mechanisms and kinetics associated with ion transport at the polymer-ceramic interface are still mostly unknown and have yet to be elucidated. This work uses a combination of computational methods, including density functional theory, atomistic molecular dynamics, and coarse-grained molecular dynamics, to understand the ion transport along the polymer-ceramic interface and the impact of the interfacial structure and chemistry on the ionic conductivity of the polymer-based electrolyte. This work is a part of an interdisciplinary center devoted to combining computational and experimental studies to designing polymer-based electrolytes with enhanced ion transport properties for applications in much-needed clean energy technologies. |