Polyacrylamide-methanesulfonic acid gel polymer electrolytes for tin-air battery

Abstract

The present work describes the synthesis and characterization of gel polymer electrolytes containing methanesulfonic acid (MSA) with Polyacrylamide (PAAm). The PAAm–MSA gel electrolytes were prepared with different concentrations of MSA. Addition of 0.5 M of MSA into the electrolyte increased the ionic conductivity of PAAm from 1.35 × 10−3 to 1.56 × 10−2 S cm−1. The maximum ionic conductivity of 7.0 × 10−1 S cm−1 was obtained with 3 M MSA at room temperature. The chemical interaction between PAAm and MSA was studied by Fourier transformed infra-red. The performance as a polymer electrolyte was evaluated from the cell discharge and open circuit potential measurements of a tin-air cell. The tin-air cell supported relatively high current, up to 12 mA cm−2 with a maximum power density of 5 mW cm−2. The open-circuit potential of the cell was 1.27 V for 24 h.