Na-ion Transportation, Dielectric Relaxation and Electric Modulus Behavior of (PEO/PVDF) Based Nanocomposite Polymer Electrolyte

Abstract

. Nanocomposite Polymer Electrolyte (NCPE) films were prepared with a blend of two polymers: poly ethylene oxide (80wt% PEO) and poly vinylidene fluoride (20wt% PVDF) complexed with a salt, sodium perchlo-rate (7.5wt% NaClO 4 ) and a nano-filler, iron oxide ( x wt% Fe 2 O 3 ) (i.e., (0.8PEO/0.2PVDF) + 7.5wt% NaClO 4 + x wt% Fe 2 O 3 . The complexation and surface morphology of prepared NCPE films have been investigated using XRD and SEM techniques, respectively. Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) studies were done in the frequency range from 10 Hz to 4 MHz to understand the Na-ion transportation, dielectric relaxation and electric modulus of the prepared NCPE films. The impact of Fe 2 O 3 nano-filler concentration (Fe 2 O 3 wt%) on the Na-ion transportation, dielectric relaxation and ionic conductivity has been studied. The AC conductivity of all the prepared NCPE films at high frequency followed the Jonscher’s power law. The DC ionic conductivity values calculated from the bulk resistance ( R b ) of the NCPE films were consistent with the values calculated using Jonscher’s power law. The temperature-dependent ionic conductivity followed the Arrhenius rule between 303 and 333 K. The highest ionic conductivity of 1 . 13 × 10 − 4 S/cm was achieved at ambient temperature for the NCPE-16 film (0.8PEO/0.2PVDF) + 7.5wt% NaClO 4 + 16wt% Fe 2 O 3 , and it is due to lowest crystallinity of NCPE-16 film. The ionic and electronic transport numbers of all the NCPE films were calculated using Wagner’s polarization technique.