Relationship between Segmental Dynamics Measured by Quasi-Elastic Neutron Scattering and Conductivity in Polymer Electrolytes

Quasi-elastic neutron scattering experiments on mixtures of poly(ethylene oxide) and lithium bis(trifluoromethane)sulfonimide salt, a standard polymer electrolyte, led to the quantification of the effect of salt on segmental dynamics in the 1-10 Å length scale. The monomeric friction coefficient characterizing segmental dynamics on these length scales increases exponentially with salt concentration. More importantly, we find that this change in monomeric friction alone is responsible for all of the observed nonlinearity in the dependence of ionic conductivity on salt concentration. Our analysis leads to a surprisingly simple relationship between macroscopic ion transport in polymers and dynamics at monomeric length scales.