Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

In this research we will first synthesize polymers that exhibit solid electrolyte properties when complexed with lithium salts. These polymers could potentially be used as solid electrolytes in solid state lithium or lithium ion batteries. However, a major drawback of these materials is that they tend to flow under pressure when assembled in cells. As a means of increasing the mechanical properties of these polymers we plan to sandwich them in between the layers of molybdenum diselenide, tin disulfide and titanium disulfide. The synthetic methodology would first and foremost, involve insertion of lithium ions into the layered systems, followed by exfoliation in a solvent. Addition of solutions of the polymers to the exfoliated layers would lead to intercalated materials that could potentially be used in battery applications. We also plan to prepare hybrid materials consisting of nylon-6 and graphite. We believe that these hybrids could possess high mechanical strength that could have various industrial applications such as in the construction of automobile parts. The process in developing these materials would first involve oxidizing commercially available graphite. This results in graphite oxide, a layered structure that swells readily in water or alcohols. We plan to use trifluoroethanol to disperse the graphite oxide since it can also be used to solubilize the nylon-6. The reaction mixture will be refluxed in air followed by addition of hydrazine in order to convert the graphite oxide to graphite. The resulting hybrids will be cast as thin films, and will be characterized by various techniques such as powder X-ray diffraction, dynamic mechanical analysis and electrical conductivity measurements.