Gaining insights into the nanostructure – properties relationship of Ionic Liquids/Polymer based composites

The combination of ionic liquids (IL) and polymers has contributed to the development of smart and functional materials with multifunctional properties. Accordingly, polymer/IL blends have been successfully applied as solid electrolytes for Li-ion batteries and other devices. Among polymers, poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) piezoelectric polymer stands out as host matrix for ILs. Furthermore, porous materials such as Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOF) or Zeolites are very interesting, since their inclusion within the polymer stabilizes the IL. With this experiment we would like to understand (i)the correlation between the characteristics of the ILs and its final distribution in PVDF, (ii)the impact of IL into the overall structure of the PVDF, (iii)the distribution of MOF/Zeolite into the PVDF and (iv)the IL distribution/storage areas in PVDF/MOF-Zeolite in comparison to PVDF bare polymer.