DSC indicates that first-heating endotherms at 95 and 100-115 degrees C in poly(tetramethylene oxide)-based polymers with LiClO4 and LiBF4, respectively, arise from the decomposition of phase-separated LiClO4 center dot 3H(2)O and a pre-melting transition in phase-separated LiBF4 and not from organized adducts with poly(tetramethylene oxide) as asserted by Akbulut et al. and other literature. Water in the LiClO4 system, at least (absent in freeze-dried samples), could account for higher conductivities reported by Akbulut et al. than observed by the present authors. Irreversibility of log sigma versus I/T in these weakly ionophilic systems apparently arises from slow dissolution of lithium salts together with morphological changes in mixtures of the self-organising systems CmOn (1) with the 'grain boundary bridging' copolymer -[-(CH2)(4)-O-](x)-(CH2)(12)- (II). A threecomponent system 1:11:LiBF4 to which 9 wt% of tetrahydrofuran had been purposefully added showed deterioration in conductivity compared with the system without THF addition. This suggests that solvent-inhibition of self-organization is contrary to the suggestion by Akbulut et al. that irreversible transformation to a high ambient conductivity (sigma. = 10(-4) to 10(-3) S cm(-1)) regime arises from plasticization by the 3 wt% of volatiles, generated by thermal decomposition of 11 in a three-component mixture, that they report. The irreversible transformation to higher conductivities is also observed in systems heated to maximum temperatures between 50 and 80 degrees C for which degradation was shown to be negligible. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.