Ionic Liquids in Electro-active Devices (ILED)

Abstract : Multidisciplinary research focused on the systematic tuning of multiphase morphology on electro-active performance has served as the cornerstone of the fourth year ILEAD MURI program. This team-oriented focus provided collaborations among scientists and engineers with graduate student exchanges, real-time feedback, and multidisciplinary peer-reviewed publications. Synthetic chemists collaborated with morphologists to predict the design of novel electro-active materials. Unprecedented charged polymeric compositions have been prepared with attention to the correlation of charge density and chemical composition with morphological structure in both solution and the solid state. Scattering studies revealed the importance of charge location on structure at the nanoscale and the correlation of structure with membrane performance. Novel families of electromechanical transducers were discovered with special attention to the design of assembled structures based on the tuning of electrostatic interactions; these novel transducers demonstrated unparalleled performance. Polymeric ionic liquids as mobile anion transducers were demonstrated for the first time. Characterization instrumentation for the electromechanical responses of conductive network/ionomer composites (CNIC) were developed. The overall research goal successfully developed a fundamental understanding of the design of charged polymers and interactions with ionic liquids. This program continues to discover new families of ionic liquid-based polymers and physical properties as a function of structure.