Resistor-Network Modeling of Ionic Conduction in Polymer Electrolytes

A resistor- and pore-network methodology is used to examine transport of ions in various ion-conducting polymers. The model is used to examine ion conduction in random and correlated (at the mesoscale) distributions of high and low conductive domains showing the impact that defects or different conduction modes have on overall effective conductivity and percolation. The specific case of Nation is modeled where swelling is accounted for as well as a spatially varying conductivity within the nanodomains. The model is also used to investigate conduction in thin-films, where a substantial drop in conductivity is witnessed for films less than 50 nm thick. The model shows good agreement with experimental data and provides a methodology for efficient multiscale modeling of transport in ion-conducting polymers from the nanoscale morphology through the mesoscale transport pathways to the observable macroscale properties.