Ionic Conductivity Relaxation Research Articles

Structural, morphological, electrical, and dielectric properties of Na2Cu5(Si2O7)2 for ASSIBs.

Solid inorganic electrolyte materials are fundamental components for constructing all-solid-state sodium-ion batteries. These solid electrolytes offer considerable benefits related to safety, electrochemical performance, and mechanical stability in comparison to liquid organic electrolyte systems. This study investigates the sodium ion conduction mechanism and relaxation kinetics in the sorosilicate material Na2Cu5(Si2O7)2, a potential solid electrolyte, using impedance spectroscopy. Analysis of the DC conductivity data demonstrates that sodium ion mobility follows Arrhenius behavior with a thermal activation energy barrier of 1.21 eV. This work highlights the importance of carefully choosing an appropriate equivalent circuit model to extract DC conductivity parameters from impedance data, given the contributions from both grain and grain boundary effects. Analysis of the AC conductivity and dielectric constant as a function of frequency and temperature demonstrates that ionic conduction takes place in this material through a process in which charge carriers overcome correlated energy barriers, known as correlated barrier hopping. The neutron diffraction patterns were analyzed using soft bond valence sum (BVS) techniques to map the possible ionic conduction pathways within the unit cell. Examination of the data points to obstructions in the sodium ion diffusion routes along the a-axis and diagonal of the bc plane within the triclinic unit cell. These bottlenecks likely contribute to the high activation energy and correspondingly low ionic conductivity observed. Analysis of dielectric properties by modulus verified that the ionic conduction relaxation phenomena exhibit thermal activation and a distribution of relaxation times. In summary, this work elucidates the microscopic ionic conduction mechanism in Na2Cu5(Si2O7)2 through extensive analysis encompassing DC/AC conductivity, electric modulus, and dielectric constant measurements. The insights gained into the ionic conduction mechanism will aid in engineering optimized ionic conductor materials for battery technologies.

Effect of doping of organo-soluble carbon dots on ionic relaxation and conductivity of planar anchored cyanobiphenyl based nematic liquid crystal

We demonstrate here the striking effect of organo-soluble carbon dots (CDs, diameter ∼7- 8 nm) on the tunability of ionic relaxation and conductivity of the host, planar anchored thermotropic nematic liquid crystal (5CB, 4-Cyano-4′-pentylbiphenyl). The optical texture, frequency, temperature, and concentration dependent dielectric studies of pristine 5CB and CDs-5CB composites have been performed using the polarising optical microscope and high-resolution dielectric spectroscopy, respectively. The doping of 0.5 wt% CDs into planar anchored 5CB is resulted into the vertical alignment confirmed through the cross-polarised optical microscope. The doping of CDs in 5CB liquid crystal is resulted into an unprecedented faster ionic relaxation with an abatement of the ionic amplitude at room temperature. The shift in the relaxation frequency for 0.5 wt% CDs-5CB composite (induced vertical alignment) as compared to pristine 5CB (planar aligned) at 28 °C (nematic) is found to be ∼13 folds which is further increased to ∼18 folds at 38 °C (isotropic). A similar trend in the conductivity curve is also observed which further confirms the significant enhancement in conductivity value with increase in temperature and concentration of dopant CDs. The observation of enhanced ionic conductivity and faster ionic relaxation in CDs-5CB composites as compared to pristine 5CB are attributed to the complete change of planar to vertical alignment by doping of CDs on planar anchored liquid crystal sample cells. It appears that the plausible strong interaction between hydrocarbon chains of CDs and 5CB molecules through anchored substrate surfaces with increasing concentration of CDs and decrease in rotational viscosity of host 5CB with increasing temperature certainly plays a pivotal role in the tuning of ionic relaxation and conductivity in the liquid crystal sample cells. We certainly believe that our results would catalyze the cognizance of the ionic relaxation and conductivity in CDs-5CB composites and other related systems. Moreover, such composites with tunable ionic relaxation/conductivity would be certainly helpful in the fabrication of various tuneable devices such as wave front corrector, low frequency oscillation generators, dynamic light scattering, and so on.

Impedance Spectroscopy of Binary Mixtures of Dimethyl Silicone Fluid and Methyl Iso Butyl Ketone

A precision LCR metre was used to measure the parallel resistance (RP) and parallel capacitance (CP) of a capacitive cell filled with samples of binary mixes of methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK) and dimethyl silicone fluid (DMSF), over the frequency range of 100 Hz to 2 MHz, at a temperature of 303.15 K. Using RP and CP, complex impedance Z*(ω) was computed. A four-element equivalent circuit model was used to fit the complex impedance data. The fitting provided the values of various circuit elements representing various electrical processes occurring in the capacitive measurement cell under the influence of an applied ac field. The Bode plot presentation of the complex impedance data confirmed the values of various circuit elements determined using the fitting process. Complex impedance formalism supports the observation of the electronic double-layer capacitance (EDLC) phenomena and ionic conduction relaxation phenomena.

Elucidation of Liquid Structures and Transport Properties of Highly Concentrated LiN(SO2F)2/Ethylene Carbonate Electrolytes

The Li+ conduction mechanism in highly concentrated ethylene carbonate (EC) solution of lithium bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide (LiFSA) was studied based on the measurements of thermal properties, density, viscosity, ionic conductivity, self-diffusion coefficients, Raman spectra, and proton nuclear magnetic resonance relaxation time. The compositions of EC and LiFSA were varied from dilute to concentrated states ([EC]/[LiFSA] = 9.2–0.80). For compositions of [EC]/[LiFSA] ≤ 1.5, the free solvents decrease, and contact ion pairs and aggregates become dominant, causing a significant change in the transport properties. Faster diffusion of Li+ compared with solvent (Li+ hopping conduction) was observed when the molar composition of [EC]/[LiFSA] ≤ 1.0 as in the case of sulfolane.

(Digital Presentation) Dielectric and Vibrational Spectroscopic Study on Asymmetric Quaternary Phosphonium-Based Ionic Liquids

Ionic liquids (IL) have a great potential of applications in electrochemical devices such as electrolytes for fuel cells. In particular, quaternary phosphonium cation-based ionic liquids (P-ILs) is much suitable due to lower viscosity and better ionic conductivity compared with corresponding quaternary ammonium cation-based ionic liquids (A-ILs). Over the past decade, fundamental properties of P-ILs have been investigated by viscometry, calorimetry, spectroscopy, calculation, and so on. However, little is known about molecular mechanism for such better potential of P-ILs. The present study aimed to reveal the relationship between molecular structure and macroscopic material properties of P-ILs in terms of alkyl chain asymmetry. The P-ILs used in this study were prepared by quadrification of trialkylphosphine followed by ion exchange with bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (TFSA) anions. We named P-ILs based on the number of alkyl chain length. For example, P2225 means triethyl(penta)phosphonium cation. In this study, we used P2225-TFSA, P2228-TFSA, and P222(12)-TFSA. We conducted temperature-variable broadband dielectric spectroscopy between 20 Hz and 100 MHz. We also carried out Raman spectroscopy (laser excitation at 532 nm) and THz spectroscopy. The obtained complex dielectric spectra were dominated by (i) electrode polarization, (ii) ionic conduction, and (iii) reorientational relaxation, depending on the frequency and temperature. The spectra at the frequency regions between ionic conduction and reorientational relaxation were well-fitted with a Havriliak-Negami dielectric relaxation function, superimposed with a conductivity term. Thus, we determined both ionic conductivity (σdc) and relaxation time for structural relaxation (τHN) of ionic liquids. Although the σdc for all of the P-ILs used in this study exhibited similar Vogel-Fulcher-Tamman-type temperature dependence, the σdc slightly decreased with increasing the asymmetric alkyl chain length. Such temperature dependence was also observed in τHN, meaning that translational dynamics partly coupled with segmental dynamics. This result is consistent with that internal motion of the alkyl chains should depend on the chain length. Raman and THz spectroscopy provided an information on molecular structure (such as conformation) and inter- and intra-molecular interaction between anions and cations. In the presentation, we will describe the relationship of charge carrier transportation with ion conformations and intermolecular structures.

Nd-Nb co-dopant effect on suppression of phase transition, ionic conductivity and dielectrics relaxation phenomenon of La2Mo2O9 system

In the present paper, Nd, Nb co-doped La2Mo2O9 system is investigated to understand phase transition, ionic conductivity and dielectric relaxation phenomenon. X-ray diffraction study confirms order-disorder phase transition by disappearance of peak splitting of (231) in co-doped LMX system, which is associated with monoclinic phase and is observed for LMX-Pure at around 2θ = 47–48°. In co-doped system, two dielectric relaxation peaks are observed, which are associated with diffusion process between O(1)-O(2) and O(1)-O(3) oxygen ion ←→ vacancies sites, while diffusion process O(1)-O(3) is supposed to be occurred in parent system having single relaxation peak. Thus dielectric relaxation phenomenon indicates phase transition is proceeding with static-to-dynamic disorder transition. Electric modulus data are revealed to ascertain correlation of relaxation dynamics and oxy-ion conductivity in co-doped LMX system. The extracted data of activation energy of oxy-ion conductivity at intermediate temperature range (500–700 °C) of co-doped samples is found relatively lower than that of the parent sample. The study reveals that incorporation of Nd, Nb co-doped in LMX system successfully suppress the phase transition and enhanced ionic conductivity at intermediate temperature range and found suitable as electrolytes for intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells.

Ionic Conductivity of Hybrid Composite Solid Polymer Electrolytes of PEOnLiClO4-Cubic Li7La3Zr2O12 Films

Ionic conductivity of the polyethylene oxide-LiClO4 (PEOnLiClO4) solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) films with an EO:Li ratio (n) of 10, 12, 15, as well as the hybrid composite solid polymer electrolyte (CSPE) films of PEOnLiClO4 containing 50 wt% of cubic-Li7La3Zr2O12 (LLZO) sub-micron sized particles, have been studied by varying Li-salt content in the films. The complex AC dielectric permittivity and conductivity data obtained from electrical impedance measurements were fitted using a generalized power-law, including the effects of electrode polarization applied at low AC frequencies to obtain various relaxation times. In addition to increased mechanical and thermal robustness, the CSPE films show higher values of ionic conductivity, >10−4 S/cm at room temperature compared to those of SPE films with n = 12 and 15. On the contrary, the ionic conductivity of CSPE with n = 10 decreases by a factor of three compared to the corresponding SPE film due to increased polymer structural reorientation and Li-ion pairing effects. The Vogel–Tammann–Fulcher behavior of the temperature-dependent conductivity data indicates a close correlation between the ionic conductivity and polymer segmental relaxation. The PEO12LiClO4-LLZO film shows the lowest activation energy of ~0.05 eV.

Ionic Conductivity and Dielectric Relaxation of NASICON Superionic Conductors at the Near-Cryogenic Regime

With a crystal lattice structure first characterized in the 1970s, NASICON sodium-based superionic conductors have recently found renewed interest as solid electrolytes in sodium-ion and seawater flow batteries due to their exceptional ionic conductivity being on the same scale as liquid electrolytes. Since sodium ions in the crystal lattice move among interstitial positions through site-specific bottlenecks, the overall conductivity is strongly dependent on the NASICON composition. In this work, we report on the synthesis protocols and processing parameters of Na3Zr2Si2PO12 prepared from Na2CO3, SiO2, ZrO2, and NH4H2PO4 precursors by the conventional solid-state reaction (SSR) route. We critically evaluated important observations made in the extended literature on the topic including: (i) the importance of precursor particle size concerning the SSR synthesis, focusing on effective ball-milling protocols; and (ii) the onset of excess zirconia contamination, expanding on the effects of both thermal and pressure processing—the latter often overlooked in the available literature. In approaching the cryogenic regime, the dataset availability concerning ionic conductivity and dielectric permittivity measurements for NASICON was extended, starting from elevated temperatures at 200 °C and reaching into the very low temperature zone at −100 °C.

On the coupling between ionic conduction and dipolar relaxation in deep eutectic solvents: Influence of hydration and glassy dynamics.

We have studied the ionic conductivity and the dipolar reorientational dynamics of aqueous solutions of a prototypical deep eutectic solvent (DES), ethaline, by dielectric spectroscopy in a broad range of frequencies (MHz-Hz) and for temperatures ranging from 128 to 283 K. The fraction of water in the DES was varied systematically to cover different regimes, starting from the pure DES and its water-in-DES mixtures to the diluted electrolyte solutions. Depending on these parameters, different physical states were examined, including low viscosity liquid, supercooled viscous liquid, amorphous solid, and freeze-concentrated solution. Both the ionic conductivity and the reorientational relaxation exhibited characteristic features of glassy dynamics that could be quantified from the deviation from the Arrhenius temperature dependence and non-exponential decay of the relaxation function. A transition occurred between the water-in-DES regime (<40 wt. %), where the dipolar relaxation and ionic conductivity remained inversely proportional to each other, and the DES-in-water regime (>40 wt. %), where a clear rotation-translation decoupling was observed. This suggests that for a low water content, on the timescale covered by this study (∼10-6 to 1 s), the rotational and transport properties of ethaline aqueous solutions obey classical hydrodynamic scaling despite these systems being presumably spatially microheterogeneous. A fractional scaling is observed in the DES-in-water regime due to the formation of a maximally freeze-concentrated DES aqueous solution coexisting with frozen water domains at sub-ambient temperature.

Ionic conduction and charge carrier relaxation in chitosan acetate based solid biopolymer electrolyte embedded with LiClO4

Ionic conduction and charge carrier relaxation in chitosan acetate based solid biopolymer electrolyte embedded with LiClO4

Effect of TiO2 Nano-Filler on Electrical Properties of Na+ Ion Conducting PEO/PVDF Based Blended Polymer Electrolyte

Nanocomposite polymer electrolyte (NCPE) films based on a blend of two polymers poly (ethylene oxide) (PEO) and poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) complexed with sodium perchlorate (NaClO4) salt and Nano-filler titanium dioxide (TiO2) (i.e., (80 wt% PEO/20 wt% PVDF) + 7.5 wt% NaClO4 + x wt% TiO2 where x = 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18) were prepared and characterized as potential candidates for battery applications. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) has been employed between the frequencies 10 Hz and 4 MHz to investigate electrical, dielectric and electric modulus properties of the prepared NCPE films. Effect of TiO2 Nano-filler concentration on the structural, ionic conductivity, and dielectric relaxation has been studied. The AC conductivity of the NCPE films at high frequencies obeys Jonscher’s power law. The values of DC ionic conductivity calculated by fitting the AC conductivity spectra to the best fit of Joncher’s power law are consistent with the values of DC ionic conductivity calculated from the bulk resistance (Rb) of the NCPE films. The ionic conductivity that depends on temperature follows the Arrhenius rule between the temperatures 298 and 328 K. The maximum ionic conductivity at ambient temperature 8.75 × 10–5 S/cm was obtained for (80 wt% PEO/20 wt% PVDF) + 7.5wt% NaClO4 + 15 wt% TiO2 NCPE film and it is attributed to the decrease in crystallinity. Using Wagner’s polarization technique ionic transport numbers of various NCPE films were measured.

Dielectric study of mixtures of benzaldehyde and methanol at 293.15 K temperature

Complex dielectric permittivity ε∗ω=ε'ω-jε"ω of benzaldehyde, methanol and their mixtures of varying range 20 Hz to 2 MHz at 293.15 K temperature. The measured value of ε∗ω are used to evaluate electrical properties such as complex modulus M*(ω) and complex impedance Z*(ω). Different relaxation times like, ionic conductivity relaxation time τσ and electrode polarization relaxation time τEP are also determined. The value of τσand τEP are found to increase with an increase of the concentration of benzaldehyde in methanol. Frequency and concentration dependent behaviour of the complex relative dielectric functionε∗ω, complex modulus M*(ω) and complex impedance Z*(ω) of benzaldehyde, methanol and their binary mixtures are analysed.

Boost in the thermal stability, ionic conductivity and director relaxation frequency in the composite of liquid crystal and functionalised multi-walled carbon nanotubes

ABSTRACT In the present work, we have prepared a liquid crystal-carbon nanotube (LC-CNT) composite by dispersing a low concentration of carboxylic group (-COOH) functionalised multi-walled CNTs (MWCNTs) in a liquid-crystal 6CHBT and studied in detail the alterations in thermal and electrical parameters. Thermodynamic studies reveal that transition processes are becoming fast due to the dispersion of MWCNTs. The change in the behaviour of transitions is credited to the reduction in ionic impurities owing to the ion trapping characteristic of CNTs. The isotropic liquid to nematic transition temperature of the composite system is increasing for the exothermic cycle as compared to that of the pure sample. The average transition enthalpies and entropies for various transitions of the composite system are increasing as compared to those of the virgin sample. Longitudinal component of the permittivity and dielectric anisotropy of the composite system is slightly reduced as compared to those of the virgin sample. Relaxation frequencies of an observed relaxation mechanism corresponding to the rotation of molecules about their short axes of the composite system are enhanced as compared to the undispersed sample. Total ionic conductivity of the composite system is boosted as compared to those of the pure sample.

Li-Ion Diffusion in Nanoconfined LiBH4-LiI/Al2O3: From 2D Bulk Transport to 3D Long-Range Interfacial Dynamics.

Solid electrolytes based on LiBH4 receive much attention because of their high ionic conductivity, electrochemical robustness, and low interfacial resistance against Li metal. The highly conductive hexagonal modification of LiBH4 can be stabilized via the incorporation of LiI. If the resulting LiBH4-LiI is confined to the nanopores of an oxide, such as Al2O3, interface-engineered LiBH4-LiI/Al2O3 is obtained that revealed promising properties as a solid electrolyte. The underlying principles of Li+ conduction in such a nanocomposite are, however, far from being understood completely. Here, we used broadband conductivity spectroscopy and 1H, 6Li, 7Li, 11B, and 27Al nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to study structural and dynamic features of nanoconfined LiBH4-LiI/Al2O3. In particular, diffusion-induced 1H, 7Li, and 11B NMR spin–lattice relaxation measurements and 7Li-pulsed field gradient (PFG) NMR experiments were used to extract activation energies and diffusion coefficients. 27Al magic angle spinning NMR revealed surface interactions of LiBH4-LiI with pentacoordinated Al sites, and two-component 1H NMR line shapes clearly revealed heterogeneous dynamic processes. These results show that interfacial regions have a determining influence on overall ionic transport (0.1 mS cm–1 at 293 K). Importantly, electrical relaxation in the LiBH4-LiI regions turned out to be fully homogenous. This view is supported by 7Li NMR results, which can be interpreted with an overall (averaged) spin ensemble subjected to uniform dipolar magnetic and quadrupolar electric interactions. Finally, broadband conductivity spectroscopy gives strong evidence for 2D ionic transport in the LiBH4-LiI bulk regions which we observed over a dynamic range of 8 orders of magnitude. Macroscopic diffusion coefficients from PFG NMR agree with those estimated from measurements of ionic conductivity and nuclear spin relaxation. The resulting 3D ionic transport in nanoconfined LiBH4-LiI/Al2O3 is characterized by an activation energy of 0.43 eV.

Structural and electrical properties of Cu substituted Ni–Cd nanoferrites for microwave applications

A series of Ni0.7-xCuxCd0.3Fe2O4 (x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5) were synthesized by sol-gel auto combustion technique. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirms the creation of cubic spinel structure of single-phase ferrites with crystallite size from 11 to15 nm. The lattice constant and grain size of the ferrite nanoparticles are found to increase with Cu content. The dielectric study of the materials at room temperature unveils a typical dispersion behavior in the lower frequency region (20 Hz - 1 KHz) and the dielectric constants remain constant at higher frequencies. The minimum loss tangent of ~0.019 at 13 MHz is found in the composition of x = 0.1. Both the complex impedance and electric modulus analysis confirms the presence of non-Debye type of relaxation phenomenon in the prepared ferrites. The ac conductivity bands suggest the hopping type of conduction and the ionic conduction relaxation mechanism in the investigated materials.

AC conductivity studies of polyethylene oxide-garnet-type Li7La3Zr2O12 hybrid composite solid polymer electrolyte films

We have investigated both AC dielectric permittivity and ionic conductivity of hybrid composite solid polymer electrolyte (CSPE) films (~100 μm) comprised of sub-micron sized aluminum substituted cubic Li7La3Zr2O12 (LLZO) particles dispersed in polyethylene oxide-LiClO4 (PEO-LiClO4) matrix with [EO]:[Li] = 15:1. Homogeneous CSPE films with 50 wt% LLZO (PEO-LLZO-LiClO4) exhibit good flexibility and mechanical robustness up to 120 °C. The electrochemical potential stability window measured for these films was ~5.2 V vs. Li+/Li. The complex AC permittivity and conductivity were determined using the measured electrical impedance spectra in the range of 1 Hz to 300 kHz and found to be heavily affected by the electrode polarization in low frequency region. We have analyzed the data using an expression for complex AC conductivity that generalizes the power-law dependence taking into account the effect of electrode polarization and involving ionic and polymer segmental relaxation times in its description. This expression describes very well the observed behavior of AC dielectric permittivity and conductivity in the entire measured frequency region. The ionic and segmental relaxation times obtained from fitting the experimental data indicate a strong coupling between the ionic motion and segmental dynamics. Further, the observed temperature dependent conductivity follows the Vogel-Tammann-Fulcher (VTF) behavior implying a close correlation between ionic conductivity and segmental relaxation in these polymer electrolytes. The VTF model yields an activation energy of 0.32 eV for PEO-LiClO4 film, and 0.07 eV for PEO-LLZO-LiClO4 composite film, consistent with the observed enhancement in conductivity by two orders of magnitude at 30 °C upon the addition of LLZO particles.

Glassy Dynamics and Translational-Rotational Coupling of an Ionically Conducting Pharmaceutical Salt-Sodium Ibuprofen.

In this work, we study the structural dipolar relaxation and ionic conductivity relaxation in an ionized derived from a nonionized glass former. The latter is the salt form of a well-studied active pharmaceutical ingredient, sodium ibuprofen, and the former is ibuprofen. Quantum mechanical calculations were employed to study the variation in its molecular electrostatic potentials, and its spatial extent on its salt formation with Na+ ions. Measurements have been made using differential scanning calorimetry and broadband dielectric spectroscopy, and the characterization is assisted by density functional theory. The dielectric data contain information on both ionic and dipolar molecular mobility of NaIb and were extracted by representation in terms of the electric modulus and permittivity. A secondary β-conductivity relaxation coexists with the primary α-conductivity relaxation. By use of the coupling model, we show that the β-conductivity relaxation is connected to the α-conductivity relaxation and is the analogue of the relation of the Johari-Goldstein β-relaxation to the structural α-relaxation, shown valid also in ibuprofen. This remarkable result has an impact on the fundamental understanding of the dynamics of ionic conductivity. By representing the data as permittivity, a dipolar β-relaxation was found to have practically the same relaxation times as the β-conductivity relaxation in the glassy state and translational-rotational coupling is valid at a more local secondary relaxation level. However, the α-conductivity relaxation decouples from structural α-relaxation because the structural glass transition temperature is lower than the conductivity counterpart by 29 K. These are novel findings. The study elucidates the effects on the dynamics by the change in the nature of bonding and in size on introducing sodium ions to ibuprofen in the glassy and supercooled liquid states.

Dielectric spectroscopic study of solutions of amino silicone oil in the polar solvent mixtures of methyl ethyl ketone and methyl iso butyl ketone

The complex permittivity, complex modulus, alternating current electrical conductivity and complex impedance of the ternary mixtures of amino silicone oil in methyl ethyl ketone and methyl iso butyl ketone have been investigated at 303.15 K temperature over the frequency regime 200 Hz to 2 MHz. Complex permittivity and complex impedance data have been fitted to the Coelho model and Nyquist plot respectively. The Coelho model of complex permittivity data provides the electrode polarization relaxation time related to electric double layer relaxation processes. Nyquist plot of complex impedance data exhibits Debye type dispersion corresponding to conduction relaxation processes and electric double layer relaxation processes. Electrode polarization relaxation time (τEP), relaxation time (τEP′), ionic conductivity relaxation time (τσ), geometric relaxation time (τg) and double layer relaxation time (τdl) have been calculated using the different formalism. Static permittivity (ε0), DC conductivity (σdc) and refractive index (nD) have also been determined for all the ternary mixtures. Solvent effect interaction in amino silicone oil with methyl ethyl ketone, methyl iso butyl ketone and with their mixtures is also discussed in the paper. Systematic variation is observed in all the parameters with change in concentration of amino silicone oil in methyl ethyl ketone and methyl iso butyl ketone.

Nanofiller-Induced Ionic Conductivity Enhancement and Relaxation Property Analysis of the Blend Polymer Electrolyte Using Non-Debye Electric Field Relaxation Function

The enhancement of conductivity of a composite polymer as a dielectric material is an essential requirement for electrostatic storage devices. We have modified the microstructure of the polymer matrix by introducing an insulating nanofiller SiO2. The effect of such a filler on the ionic conductivity of the composite polymer electrolyte has been investigated using a variety of experimental techniques along with the non-Debye type of relaxation functions. We have achieved optimum conductivity enhancement at a threshold filler concentration of 0.7 wt % in the blend polymer matrix composed of poly(ethylene oxide), poly(vinylidene fluoride) (80:20), and salt NH4 I (35 wt %). Such an enhancement of conductivity is a result of formation of a highly conducting interphase region around the nanofiller surface. The mobility of the conducting species is found to increase enormously in the presence of a filler. As a consequence, the ionic conductivity of the filler-induced blend polymer electrolyte increases 3 times of its magnitude (3.02 × 10–3 S/cm) compared to that without a filler. The occurrence of two different activation energies which decrease with increasing filler concentrations, as determined from temperature-dependent conductivity, has been well explained from the dynamics of free and contact ions. A non-Debye behavior of relaxation properties has been analyzed using a newly approached one-parameter Mittag-Leffler function. The experimental decay function fits very well using the Mittag-Leffler function as compared to the conventional non-Debye Kohlrausch–Williams–Watts function used in the literature.

Ionic Conductivity in Lithium-Borate-Tantalate Compound Glasses

We have investigated the ionic conductivity and dielectric relaxation in Li2B4O7 (LBO) and Li2OB2O3-Ta2O5 (LBTO) glasses. The sample was synthesized by using the melt quenching method. The frequency dependence of the electrical data from the LBO and LBTO glasses has been analyzed in the frameworks of the impedance Cole-Cole formalism and the universal power-law representation driven by the modified fractional Rayleigh equation. The potential barriers in the LBO and the LBTO glasses turn out to be the same. Comparing with the dc and ac activation energies of the LBO glass, these energies of the LBTO glass decrease due to the increasing Coulomb interaction of inter-cationic interaction.