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Updated: Aug 5, 2026
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Application of Electrophysiology Measurement to Study the Activity of Electro-Neutral Transporters
Published on: February 3, 2018
Correlated Ion Transport Governed by Dynamic Local Structure in High Concentration and Localized High Concentration
Rohith Srinivaas Mohanakrishnan1,2, Jingyang Wang3, Joseph Park2,4
1Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United States.
Chemistry of Materials : a Publication of the American Chemical Society
|July 31, 2026
Summary
Localized high-concentration electrolytes (LHCEs) form micelle-like clusters. Network percolation, not viscosity, dictates ionic conductivity, revealing critical thresholds for designing LHCEs.
Area of Science:
- Electrochemistry
- Materials Science
- Physical Chemistry
Background:
- Understanding concentrated electrolytes is crucial for energy storage applications.
- Localized high-concentration electrolytes (LHCEs) exhibit complex solvation structures and transport properties.
- Quantitative links between microstructure and transport in LHCEs remain underexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To elucidate the relationship between solvation structure and ionic transport in LiFSI/DMC/TTE.
- To identify compositional thresholds governing microstructure evolution and conductivity.
- To provide design principles for optimizing LHCE performance.
Main Methods:
- Molecular dynamics simulations to model solvation microstructure.
- Onsager transport analyses to determine ionic transport properties.
- Comparison with experimental conductivity data for validation.
Main Results:
- Micelle formation in LHCEs is driven by cation-anion network instability.
- Network percolation is the dominant factor controlling ionic conductivity.
- Two critical thresholds, critical network concentration (CNC) and critical micelle concentration (CMC), define structural transitions.
Conclusions:
- The study reveals distinct compositional regimes: percolating networks, micelle-like clusters, and fragmented structures.
- These transitions explain nonintuitive conductivity behavior, such as decreases at intermediate dilution.
- The findings offer composition-level design rules for advanced LHCE electrolytes.
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