Characterization of CH3SO3H-doped PMMA/PVP blend-based proton-conducting polymer electrolytes and its application in primary battery

Abstract

Various compositions of solid blend polymer electrolytes based on poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)/poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) complexed with methanesulfonic acid (MSA) as proton donor were prepared by solution casting technique. The complex nature of polymer blend with MSA was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Good thermal stability of PMMA/PVP blend polymer electrolyte was identified by thermogravimetric analysis. The surface morphology of the prepared electrolytes was studied through optical microscopy. Ion transport number was determined in the range of 0.93–0.97 for proton-conducting blend polymer electrolytes. The maximum conductivity value was calculated as 2.51 × 10−5 S/cm at 303 K for 14.04 mol% MSA-doped polymer electrolytes. Dielectric studies were also carried out. The electrochemical stability window of blend polymer electrolyte was found to be 1.82 V. Primary proton battery was fabricated with Zn + ZnSO4·7H2O/solid polymer electrolytes/MnO2. The discharge characteristics were studied at constant current drain of 5, 20 and 50 μA. The energy and power density were calculated as 0.27 W h kg−1 and 269.23 mW kg−1 for 20 μA of discharge, respectively.