Abstract
Polymer blend electrolytes based on poly(vinyl alcohol):chitosan (PVA:CS) incorporated with various quantities of ammonium iodide were prepared and characterized using a range of electrochemical, structural and microscopic techniques. In the structural analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to confirm the buildup of the amorphous phase. To reveal the effect of dopant addition on structural changes, field-emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) was used. The protrusions of salt aggregates with large quantity were seen at the surface of the formed films at 50 wt.% of the added salt. The nature of the relationship between conductivity and dielectric properties was shown using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The EIS spectra were fitted with electrical equivalent circuits (EECs). It was observed that both dielectric constant and dielectric loss were high in the low-frequency region. For all samples, loss tangent and electric modulus plots were analyzed to become familiar with the relaxation behavior. Linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) and transference number measurement (TNM) were recorded. A relatively high cut-off potential for the polymer electrolyte was obtained at 1.33 V and both values of the transference number for ion (tion) and electronic (telec) showed the ion dominant as charge carrier species. The TNM and LSV measurements indicate the suitability of the samples for energy storage application if their conductivity can be more enhanced.
Highlights
New materials that follow green chemistry principles have been focused upon extensively due to the lower release of pollutants into the environment [1]
The X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of pure poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and pure CS are presented in Figure 1a,b, respectively
The preparation and characterization of polymer blend electrolytes based on poly(vinyl alcohol):chitosan (PVA:CS) polymers were studied
Summary
New materials that follow green chemistry principles have been focused upon extensively due to the lower release of pollutants into the environment [1]. The presence of amino groups on the CS backbone makes this natural polymer into an exceptional biopolymer. This enables CS to create ion-conducting polymer electrolytes [15]. It has been emphasized that the polymer blending approach is an appropriate way to increase ionic conductivity as a result of lowering the degree of crystallinity [19]. Dealing with dielectric relaxation in SPEs has been found to be an appropriate way to obtain insight into the characteristics of cation–polymer interactions This is because the dielectric constant is a measure of a polymer material’s ability to dissolve inorganic salts [25,26]. From linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), the PVA:CS biopolymer electrolyte in this work was found to be electrochemically stable up to 1.33 V, which is important for use in electrical double-layer capacitor (EDLC) applications
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