Mechanical deformation effects on ion conduction in stretchable polymer electrolytes

Flexible and stretchable energy storage devices, including batteries, supercapacitors, and ionic piezoelectrics, have garnered substantial research interest in recent years to address a wide range of applications such as smart textiles and medical implants. These devices are intended to undergo mechanical deformation, and the impact of deformation on electrochemical performance is not well understood. One important area of focus is studying how mechanical deformation influences ion conduction in polymer electrolytes. In this work, a dual theoretical and experimental approach is taken to further evaluate this phenomenon. A stretchable solid polymer electrolyte film subjected to tensile deformation (approximately 48% strain), through which ion diffusion occurs, is analyzed using a continuum approach treating ion diffusion and mechanical deformation as coupled. Thermodynamic laws are applied to obtain governing multiphysics equations accounting for large deformation mechanics and material nonlinearity. The t...