Bifunctional ionic liquids for electrolytes

1. A polymerizable polymer electrolyte material (PEM) formulation comprising:

a polymerizable ionic liquid (IL) monomer containing a functional group capable of interacting lithium ions and a reactive polymerizable functional group capable of crosslinking;

a lithium ion conducting salt;

a plasticizer; and

a cross-linker, wherein the lithium ion conducting salt is present in a range of from 10% to 50% by weight of the formulation.

2. The polymerizable formulation of claim 1 , wherein the functional group capable of interacting with lithium ions includes a single bond carbon-oxygen-carbon structure.

3. The polymerizable formulation of claim 1 , wherein the functional group capable of interacting with lithium ions is selected from ether, nitrile, silyl, fluoroalkyl, siloxane, sulfonate, carbonate, ester, ethylene oxide or combinations thereof.

4. The polymerizable formulation of claim 1 , wherein the reactive polymerizable functional group capable of crosslinking contains a group selected from vinyl, allyl, acrylate, benzylvinyl and acryloyl.

5. The polymerizable formulation of claim 1 , wherein the reactive polymerizable functional group capable of crosslinking contains at least one of a nitrogen cation moiety, a phosphorous cation moiety and a sulfur cation moiety.

6. The polymerizable formulation of claim 5 , wherein the sulfur cation moiety is selected from the group consisting of sulfonium moieties.

7. The polymerizable formulation of claim 5 , wherein the phosphorous cation moiety is selected from the group consisting of phosphonium moieties.

8. The polymerizable formulation of claim 1 , wherein the cross-linker comprises at least one of mono-, di- and tri-acrylates and mono-, di- and tri-methacrylates.

9. A polymerizable polymer electrolyte material (PEM) formulation comprising:

a polymerizable ionic liquid (IL) monomer containing a functional group capable of interacting lithium ions and a reactive polymerizable functional group capable of crosslinking containing a nitrogen cation moiety;

a lithium ion conducting salt;

a plasticizer; and

a cross-linker, wherein the nitrogen cation moiety is selected from the group consisting of imidazolium, ammonium, pyridinium, piperidinium, pyrrolidinium, azepinium, and morpholinium moieties.

10. A polymerizable polymer electrolyte material (PEM) formulation comprising:

a polymerizable ionic liquid (IL) monomer containing a functional group capable of interacting lithium ions and a reactive polymerizable functional group capable of crosslinking;

a lithium ion conducting salt;

a plasticizer; and

a cross-linker, wherein the plasticizer is present in a range of from 5% to 50% by weight of the formulation.

11. The polymerizable formulation of claim 10 , wherein the plasticizer is a room temperature ionic liquid (RTIL).

12. A polymerizable polymer electrolyte material (PEM) formulation comprising:

a polymerizable ionic liquid (IL) monomer containing a functional group capable of interacting lithium ions and a reactive polymerizable functional group capable of crosslinking;

a lithium ion conducting salt;

a plasticizer; and

a cross-linker, wherein the polymerizable ionic liquid (IL) monomer is present in a range of from 0.1% to 50% by weight of the formulation.

13. A polymerizable polymer electrolyte material (PEM) formulation comprising:

a polymerizable ionic liquid (IL) monomer containing a functional group capable of interacting lithium ions and a reactive polymerizable functional group capable of crosslinking;

a lithium ion conducting salt;

a plasticizer; and

a cross-linker, wherein the cross-linker is present in a range of 10% to 50% by weight of the formulation.

14. A polymerizable polymer electrolyte material (PEM) formulation comprising:

a polymerizable ionic liquid (IL) monomer containing a functional group capable of interacting lithium ions and a reactive polymerizable functional group capable of crosslinking;

a lithium ion conducting salt;

a plasticizer;

a cross-linker; and a polymerization initiator in a range of from 0.1% to 5% by weight of the formulation.

15. A solid polymer electrolyte comprising:

a lithium ion conducting salt;

a plasticizer;

a cross-linker; and

a cross-linked ionic liquid (IL) matrix comprising a polymer backbone having a functional group capable of interacting with lithium ions and having a plurality of pendant groups, wherein a plurality of cation moieties are attached to one or more of the plurality of pendant groups of the polymer backbone, the cationic moieties being at least one of a nitrogen cation moiety, a phosphorus cation moiety, and a sulfur cation moiety,

wherein the lithium ion conducting salt is present in a range of from 10% to 50% by weight of the solid polymer electrolyte.

16. The electrolyte of claim 15 , wherein the matrix includes a bifunctional ionic liquid crosslink.

17. An electrochemical cell comprising positive and negative electrodes spaced apart from each other in the electrolyte of claim 15 .

18. A method of making a solid polymer electrolyte comprising:

a. forming a reaction mixture comprising:

i. a polymerizable ionic liquid (IL) monomer containing at least one functional group capable of interacting with lithium ions and a reactive polymerizable functional group capable of crosslinking the monomer, containing at least one of a nitrogen cation moiety, a phosphorous cation moiety, and a sulfur cation moiety,

ii. a lithium ion conducting salt,

iii. a plasticizer,

iv. polymerization initiator and

v. a cross-linker, wherein the lithium ion conducting salt is present in a range of from 10% to 50% by weight of the solid polymer electrolyte; and

b. initiating polymerization in the reaction mixture to form a solid PEM, wherein the ionic liquid (IL) monomer forms a portion of a polymer core of the PEM.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the polymerization reaction is initiated by a source of energy selected from a group consisting of ultraviolet light energy, heat, electron bombardment, and microwave energy.