Variations on the salt-polymer electrolyte theme for flexible solid electrolytes

As a background for discussion of liquid electrolytes which have been converted to rubbery solids by dissolution of small amounts of high polymer, we discuss both the "solidity" of amorphous materials and the role that decoupling of the conducting modes from the microviscous (as opposed to macroviscous) modes of the medium plays in determining the conductivity and transference number. We then introduce a scheme for organizing rubbery electrolyte types into those in which the salt-polymer is plasticized by molecular entities of different types (cation solvators vs anion solvators) and those in which the plasticizing entities are ions of different types or even quasi-salt particles. With this background we then describe examples of several electrolytes taken from the above-classified types, most not previously reported, and discuss their special features, their wide voltage windows and stabilities against lithium attack, and their application in recyclable lithium cells.