Polymer electrolyte membranes prepared by blending of poly(vinyl alcohol)-poly(ethylene oxide) for lithium battery application

Abstract

Recently, the battery industry has represented one important and growing sector where the use of non-toxic and non-hazardous substitute materials has not rapidly developed. The environmentally friendly polymer electrolyte is required to decrease the risk of environmental pollution caused by toxic materials of battery components. Therefore, in this study was focused on the preparation of the environmentally friendly low cost polymer electrolyte membrane for lithium-ion battery applications. The preparation of polymer electrolyte membrane was done by casting of polymer solution. Polymer electrolyte membrane was prepared by mixing poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), and LiClO4 with various compositions, and each component of was separately dissolved in demineralized water. Polymer solution was stirred until homogeneous, the solution was then poured onto a petri dish, and the solvent was evaporated to form the film/membrane. The characterizations of polymer electrolyte membranes were carried out by using FTIR for functional group, Impedance Spectroscopy (IS) used for ionic conductivity, Autograph for mechanical strength, and Optical microscope for surfaces morphology. The optimal ionic conductivity was obtained on the membrane with PVA/PEO composition of 7/3 (w/w). By addition of PEO on the blending of LiClO4-PVA can increase the mechanical stress and modulus at break of the membranes, and the optimal mechanical stress and modulus at break of membranes were obtained in the membrane with PVA/PEO ratio of 8/2. In addition, the increase LiClO4 content in membranes can improve the ionic conductivity of the polymer electrolyte membranes, but the mechanical strength of membranes decreases.