Poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate-supported ionogels with consistent capacitive behavior and tunable elastic response.

Harnessing the many favorable properties of ionic liquids in a solid electrolyte thin film form is desirable for a host of electrical energy storage applications, including electrochemical double layer capacitors. Using a cross-linked polymer matrix to provide structural support, freestanding ionogel materials can be achieved with a wide range of polymer weight fractions. Compression testing and impedance spectroscopy have been used to characterize the mechanical and electrical responses of ionogels containing between 4.9 and 44.7 wt % poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate. Although the elastic modulus of these solid electrolyte materials is observed to vary by more than 4 orders of magnitude within the composition range studied, concomitant changes in gel ionic conductivity and double layer capacitance were much less dramatic.