Polyethylene oxide-based nanocomposite polymer electrolytes for redox capacitors

Abstract

In this work, the use of a polyethylene oxide-based nanocomposite polymer electrolyte (NCPE) in a redox capacitor with polypyrrole electrodes has been studied. To the best of our knowledge, not much work has been reported in the literature on redox capacitors fabricated using NCPEs. The composition of the polyethylene oxide (PEO)-based NCPE was fine tuned to obtain films with the highest ionic conductivity. They were mechanically stable to handle for any purpose without damaging the film. The optimized composition was {[(10PEO:NaClO4) molar ratio]: 75 wt.% propylene carbonate (PC)}: 5 wt.% TiO2. This electrolyte film showed an ambient temperature ionic conductivity of 5.42 × 10−3 S cm−1. It was employed in a redox capacitor with polypyrrole electrodes polymerized in the presence of sodium perchlorate in non-aqueous medium. Performance of the redox capacitors were observed using cycling voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and galvanostatic charge discharge test. It was possible to observe a satisfactory capacitive behavior in the range 58–83 F/g. Further, the redox capacitors had the ability to retain for continuous charge discharge processes.