Understanding the role of water in the lyotropic liquid crystalline mesophase of high-performance flexible supercapacitor electrolytes using a rheological approach

Mert Umut Özkaynak*, Banu Kocaaga, Koray Bahadır Dönmez, Selin Dağlar, Yurdanur Türker, Nilgün Karatepe, F. Seniha Güner, Ömer Dag

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The effect of water on the structure, properties, and flexibility of lyotropic liquid crystalline (LLC) C12E23-LiCl-H2O gel electrolytes was explored. Structural techniques, such as X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Polarized Optical Microscopy (POM), and five dynamic measurements, were employed to examine the rheological properties of the LLC mesophase across various water contents. These analyses provided quantitative insights into the influence of water content and LiCl concentration on gel strength, gelation point, and structural recovery. The three-dimensional network of the gel encapsulates Li+ and Cl ions within hydrophilic domains, showing significant performance in supercapacitor applications. The observed increase in storage modules with decreasing water content is attributed to variations in the quantity and average size of junction points owing to system entanglement. These research findings highlight that excess water molecules, which break down micellar connections, are responsible for the weakening of the gel. Conversely, at low water concentrations, the micellar domains entangle, displaying viscoelastic behavior akin to that of a transitory polymer network.

Original languageEnglish
Article number123705
JournalJournal of Molecular Liquids
Volume394
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Jan 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Elsevier B.V.

Funding

This work was financially supported by Sabanci University Nanotechnology Research and Application Center (SUNUM) and Istanbul Technical University (ITU) Department of Materials Science and Engineering. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or manuscript preparation.

FundersFunder number
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
SUNUM
Sabanci University Nanotechnology Research and Application Center
Istanbul Teknik Üniversitesi

    Keywords

    • Flexible supercapacitor
    • Gel electrolyte
    • Lyotropic liquid crystalline mesophase

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