Ion-Conducting Polymers - Quenched to Dynamic Disorder

Abstract

Ion conducting polymers have a biphasic character with crystalline as well as amorphous phases. There is moreover, a dynamic disorder due to motion of polymer chain segments. The PEO-NH$_4$ClO$_4$ system undergoes a crossover from a DLA-type morphology for low salt fraction (X) to a structure with polygonal spherulites. In the present communication we show that the low X regime exhibits a variation of diffusivity with crystallinity typical of a quenched system, whereas the high X regime has dynamic disorder with rapid rearrangement.