EUROPEAN CONGRESS AND EXHIBITION ON ADVANCED MATERIALS AND PROCESSES - EUROMAT 2021

Electrochemical deposition is a particularly elegant and effective route for the preparation of thin and conformal solid polymer electrolyte layers. We reported the synthesis of Li-ion conducting solid polymer electrolytes for use in lithium-ion microbatteries based on titania nanotubes. The cyclability, energy and power density are among the best in literature. Furthermore, we studied the electrodeposition of anion-conducting solid polymer electrolytes that might be applied in microfuel cells.
In this work, we explore the electrochemical synthesis of amphoteric ion exchange membranes by co-deposition of two precursors with acidic and basic groups. The sequential deposition gives bipolar layers with an ionically blocking interface. These ionomer films may be used for various applications, such as pH-sensitive microactuators, ionic diodes or catalytic layers for water splitting.

1. I. V. Ferrari, M. Braglia, T. Djenizian, P. Knauth, M. L. Di Vona, Electrochemically engineered single Li-ion conducting solid polymer electrolyte on titania nanotubes for microbatteries, J. Power Sources, 353, 95-103 (2017).
2. M. Braglia, I. V. Ferrari, T. Djenizian, S. Kaciulis, P. Soltani, M. L. Di Vona, P. Knauth, Bottom-up electrochemical deposition of poly(styrene sulfonate) on nano-architectured electrodes, ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 9, 22902-22910 (2017).
3. M. Braglia, I.V. Ferrari, L. Pasquini, T. Djenizian, M. Sette, M.L. Di Vona, P. Knauth, Electrochemical synthesis of thin, dense, and conformal anion exchange membranes with quaternary ammonium groups, Electrochimica Acta, 265, 78-88 (2018).
4. L. Pasquini, M. L. Di Vona, E. Sgreccia, O. Ruzimuradov, P. Knauth, Ionomer thin‐films by electrochemical synthesis: bipolar and ampholytic membranes, ChemElectroChem, (2021).