Annealing to induce formation of defects in polyether/li⁺ complex crystals-A way to significantly enhance the crystalline segmental mobility

In this work, we demonstrate that a deliberately designed annealing process can induce formation of defects in polyether/Li⁺ complex crystals. The Li⁺ concentration diffusion in the complex crystals and the amorphous structures is considered to play a critical role in the formation of crystal defects. The ¹³C 2D exchange NMR shows that the annealing-induced crystal defects can greatly enhance the segmental mobility in the polyether/Li⁺ complex crystals. The rate of helical jump motions in the deliberately annealed polyether/Li⁺ complex crystals is â 100 times higher than those reported in the literature. This work deepens our understanding of the defect formation in polyether/Li⁺ complex crystals and has important implications on the ionic conduction enhancement of polyether-based crystalline polymer electrolytes.