Abstract
In this work, the role of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) blending on structural and electrical properties of chitosan:silver nitrate systems is studied. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) results show that the crystalline phase of chitosan (CS) is greatly scarified by silver nitrate (AgNt) salt. The crystalline domain of CS:AgNt is more broadened at 10 wt % of PVA. The spike and semicircular arcs can be separated in impedance plots. At high temperatures, the spike regions remained. The direct current (DC) conductivity was calculated from the bulk resistance obtained from the impedance plots. The dielectric constant and DC conductivity versus PVA content exhibited similar behavior. The maximum DC conductivity at ambient temperature was 1.1 × 10−6 S/cm for 10 wt % of PVA. The DC ionic conductivity increased to 9.95 × 10−5 S/cm at 80 °C. Above 10 wt % of PVA, the drop in DC conductivity and dielectric constant were observed due to the increase in viscosity. Shifting of relaxation peaks towards the lower frequency revealed the increase of resistivity of the samples. The linear increase of DC conductivity versus 1000/T indicated that ion transport followed the Arrhenius model. The incomplete semicircular arc in Argand plots indicated the non-Debye type of relaxation process. The Argand plots were used to distinguish between conductivity relaxation and viscoelastic relaxation. Three regions were distinguished in the alternating current (AC) spectra of the blend electrolyte samples. The plateau region in AC spectra was used to estimate the DC conductivity. The estimated DC conductivity from the AC spectra was close to those calculated from the impedance plots.
Highlights
Polymeric electrolytes (PEs) have attracted the attention of many researchers due to their diverse application in display technology and electrochromical devices [1]
The estimated direct current (DC) conductivity from the alternating current (AC) spectra was close to those calculated from the impedance plots
In our previous work [14], we showed that the blending of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) with chitosan:AgNt systems plays a great role in tuning the surface plasmon resonance (SPR)
Summary
Polymeric electrolytes (PEs) have attracted the attention of many researchers due to their diverse application in display technology and electrochromical devices [1]. Since the original studies of Wright et al and Armand et al [1], solid polymer electrolytes have been broadly investigated. Polymer electrolytes are formed when low dissociation energy alkali metal salts are dissolved in polar polymers, and they have wide applications in batteries/fuel cells, electrochemical display devices/smart windows, and photoelectrochemical cells [3]. Polymers 2017, 9, 622 reveals that natural polymers are attractive for the synthesis of polymer electrolytes because they are environmentally friendly material and they have a natural tendency for degradation compared to synthetic polymers [4]. Synthetic polymer materials made from petroleum sources are considered non-degradable because they produce toxic waste that causes to our environment [5]
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