Structural and thermal property studies on Na+- ion conducting solid polymer electrolytes
摘要
In this manuscript, the synthesis and characterization of sodium-ion conducting Solid Polymer Electrolytes (SPEs) using the novel solvent-free hot-press method has been reported. SPEs are playing a crucial role for the development of electrochemical power sources such as; batteries, supercapacitors, and sensors etc. SPEs have been synthesized with varying compositions: (1-x) PEO: xNaBF4, where x = 0, 3, 5, 7, 10, 15 and 20 wt. (%). Notably, the SPE film composition: [93PEO: 7NaBF4], exhibits the optimum ionic conductivity (σrt) ~ 4.89 × 10–6 S/cm at room temperature, representing a four-order of magnitude enhancement compared to the pure polymeric host (σrt ~ 3.20 × 10–9 S/cm). This improvement is attributed to the increased amorphous region within the polymer electrolyte network, as confirmed by X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) analyses. The ion transport mechanism has been performed through temperature-dependent conductivity studies, and the activation energy (Ea) is calculated from the “log σ—1/T” Arrhenius plot. The salt concentration complexation within the polymer matrix is confirmed through Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) analysis, while Thermal Gravimetric Analysis (TGA) and DSC techniques are employed to evaluate the thermal property study. The SPE Optimum Conducting Composition (OCC) film exhibits a favorable electrochemical potential window. Based on its ion transport properties and cyclic voltammetry (CV) data, it is found more suitable for device fabrication.