Fast magnesium conducting electrospun solid polymer electrolyte

Magnesium Ion based Solid State Batteries (MIBs) are subject of intensive studies due to abundance of magnesium, its advantages in volumetric capacity, and the reduced dendrite growth. Here we report on a true solid polymer electrolyte system without liquid additives or plasticizers that reaches conductivities above 10−5 S cm−1 at room temperature and above 10−4 S cm−1 at 50 °C. An electrospun polymer electrolyte membrane fabricated from a polymer electrolyte featuring a composition of PEO : Mg(TFSI)2 36 : 1 [where PEO stands for poly(ethyleneoxide) and Mg(TFSI)2 for magnesium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl) imide] was identified as the best performing system. Magnesium transport was substantiated by different methods, and the electrochemical properties including solid electrolyte interface (SEI) formation were investigated. Electrospinning as a preparation method has been identified as a powerful tool to enhance the electrochemical properties beyond conventional polymer membrane fabrication techniques

Cu4.35Cd1.65As16: the first polyarsenic compound in the Cu–Cd–As system

The first polyarsenic compound in the Cu–Cd–As system was obtained by solid-state reaction of the elements and has a refined composition of Cu4.35 (2)Cd1.65 (2)As16 (tetra­copper dicadmium hexa­deca­arsenide). It adopts the Cu5InP16 structure type. The asymmetric unit consists of one Cu site, a split Cu/Cd site and four As sites. The polyanionic structure can be described as being composed of As6 rings in chair conformations which are connected in the 1-, 2-, 4- and 5-positions. The resulting layers evolve along the c axis perpendicular to the ab plane. One Cu atom exhibits site symmetry 2 and is tetra­hedrally coordinated by four As atoms. The other Cu atom, representing the split site, and the corresponding Cd atom have different coordination spheres. While the Cu atom is tetra­hedrally coordinated by four As atoms, the Cd atom has a [3 + 1] coordination with a considerably longer Cd—As distance