(33e) Conductive Solid Polymer Electrolyte for Energy Storage Applications

Commercial hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) and fuel cell vehicles (FCV) serve as a means to reduce the nation's dependence on oil. Current electric vehicles use relatively heavy metal hydride-nickel (MH-Ni) rechargeable batteries. Li-ion rechargeable batteries have been developed extensively as the replacement; however, the high cost and safety concerns are still issues to be resolved before large-scale production. Before fuel cell vehicles can become a commercial reality, significant research and development is needed to reduce material costs and improve fuel cell efficiencies. However, new battery systems and fuel cells are being developed to replace those currently in use. In this study, we propose a new highly conductive solid polymer electrolyte that has several advantages over current technologies. The polymer electrolyte system consists of mainly a synthetic water-soluble matrix with small co-polymer acidic domains. Low molecular weight monomers were infused into the polymer matrix to raise the amorphous content. The results of various polymer syntheses optimized for the energy storage system of interest to SRNL and room temperature conductivity measurements and performance assessment will be presented.