Phase behavior of a block copolymer/salt mixture through the order-to-disorder transition

Mixtures of block copolymers and lithium salts are promising candidates for lithium battery electrolytes. Structural changes that occur during the order-to-disorder transition (ODT) in a diblock copolymer/salt mixture were characterized by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). In salt-free block copolymers, the ODT is sharp, and the domain size of the ordered phase decreases with increasing temperature. In contrast, the ODT of the diblock copolymer/salt mixture examined here occurs gradually over an 11 °C temperature window, and the domain size of the ordered phase is a nonmonotonic function of temperature. We present an approach to estimate the fraction of the ordered phase in the 11 °C window where ordered and disordered phases coexist. The domain spacing of the ordered phase increases with increasing temperature in the coexistence window. Both findings are consistent with the selective partitioning of salt into the ordered domains, as predicted by Nakamura et al. (ACS Macro Lett. 2013, 2, 478-481).