Abstract
Concerning the pollution-free and eco-friendly materials, the prospect of using biopolymer as ion conducting matrix has been investigated in this study. Biopolymer electrolyte based on agar with different concentrations of NH4Br has been prepared by solution casting technique using water as solvent. The prepared electrolytes are characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, AC impedance spectroscopy, and electrochemical stability. X-ray diffraction is done to study the nature (amorphous/crystalline) of the polymer membranes. The complexation of the prepared polymer electrolytes has been studied using Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The maximum ionic conductivity of 1.33 × 10−4 S cm−1 has been obtained for 50 M.wt% NH4Br with agar polymer electrolyte. The temperature dependence of ionic conductivity of the prepared polymer electrolytes obeys Arrhenius law. The ionic transference numbers of mobile ions have been estimated by Wagner’s dc polarization method and the results reveal that the conducting species are predominantly ions. The electrochemical stability is studied by linear sweep voltammetry. A battery has been constructed using the highest conductivity sample and its output voltage is found to be 1.80 V. A proton-exchange membrane fuel cell fabricated with the 50 M.wt% NH4Br-doped agar polymer electrolyte exhibited an output voltage of 500 mV. These results of 50 M.wt% NH4Br-doped agar have been compared with 50 M.wt% agar:50 M.wt% NH4I biopolymer electrolyte.
Published Version
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