Polyethylene oxide (PEO) / polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) complexed with lithium perchlorate (LiClO4) as a prospective material for making solid polymer electrolyte films

Abstract

Solid-state lithium batteries have attracted significant interest due to several desirable features including high energy density, good mechanical stability, and solvent free composition. Polymer electrolytes are ionically conducting polymers formed by dispersing a salt at the molecular level in a high molecular weight polymer such as PEO. The high interest in these materials stems from technological applications as solid electrolytes in electrochemical devices such as batteries, supercapacitors and sensors. The present work is aimed at investigating the structural, electrical and electrochemical properties of the solid polymer electrolyte films based on the polymer blend of polyethylene oxide (PEO) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), complexed with the lithium salt LiClO4. The techniques of XRD, FTIR and impedance analysis were used to do the structural and electrochemical characterizations of the solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) films. The ionic conductivity obtained for the SPE film is of the order of 10-3 S/cm which is close to that of liquid electrolytes. The impedance analysis confirms the good ionic conducting properties of these SPE films