Electrical and structural studies on (PEO)₅₀-AgCF₃SO₃: SnO₂ nanocomposite gel polymer electrolyte materials

摘要

The present work deals with a new series of silver-ion conducting nanocomposite gel polymer electrolytes based on poly (ethylene oxide)₅₀silver triflate, (PEO)₅₀AgCF₃SO₃ incorporated with a nano-sized inorganic filler namely, SnO₂ and a plasticizer, ethylene carbonate (EC) prepared using solution casting technique. Electrical conductivity measurements have been made on thin film polymer electrolyte systems containing (PEO₅₀AgCF₃SO₃: 2wt% SnO₂) + x wt% EC (x = 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 respectively). It has been found that the room temperature ionic conductivity value enhanced from 3.1 × 10−6 to 5.4 × 10−5 S cm−1 on addition of EC into the chosen nanocomposite system PEO₅₀AgCF₃SO₃: 2wt% SnO₂. The apparent surface morphology has been examined through scanning electron microscopic (SEM) analysis. The occurrence of a reduction in the degree of crystallinity of the plasticized system has also been revealed from the observed X-ray diffraction (XRD) data.