The combustion behavior of epoxy‐based multifunctional electrolytes

Abstract

Multifunctional or structural electrolytes are characterized by ionic conductivity high enough to be used in the electrochemical devices and mechanical performance suitable for the structural applications. Preliminary insights are provided into the combustion behavior of structural bi-continuous electrolytes based on bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (DGEBA), synthesized using the techniques of reaction induced phase separation and emulsion templating. The effect of the composition of the structural electrolytes and external heat flux on the behavior of the formulations were studied using a cone calorimeter with gases formed during testing analyzed using FTIR. The composition of the formulations investigated was changed by varying the type and amount of the ion conductive part of the bi-continuous electrolyte. Two ionic liquids, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide (EMIM-TFSI) and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (BMIM-BF 4 ), as well as a deep eutectic solvent (DES) based on ethylene glycol and choline chloride, were used. The results obtained confirm that time to ignition, heat release rate (HRR), total mass loss, as well as the composition of the gases released during tests depend on the composition of the formulations. Addition of liquid electrolyte is found to reduce the time to ignition by up to 10% and the burning time by between 28% and 60% with the added benefit of reducing the HRR by at least 34%. Gaseous products such as CO 2 , CO, H 2 O, CH 4 , C 2 H 2 , N 2 O, NO, and HCN were detected for all formulations with the gases SO 2 , NH 3 , HCl, C 2 H 4 , and NH 3 found to be for certain formulations only.

Hybrid polymer–liquid lithium ion electrolytes: effect of porosity on the ionic and molecular mobility

“…19,20 Shirshova et al investigated a series of SBE formulations, and demonstrated that the morphology of the porous network of structural electrolytes depends on the reaction kinetics and mechanism as well as the miscibility of the reagents, and the composition of the reaction mixture. 21,22 This is akin to other porous structures, such as controlled-pore glasses, prepared via phase separation. 23,24 A clear link between morphology, mechanical properties and ionic conductivity performances was proven, showing that these properties can be controlled by varying the proportion of reagents present in the resin formulation.…”