No abstract

Solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) are an excellent alternative to liquid electrolytes due to their non-volatility, low toxicity, and high energy density. In this study, a SPE having the ion transport mechanism decoupled from segmental motion of a polymer based on poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) containing the salt lithium trifluoromethane sulfonate (LiCF3SO3, LiTf) has been prepared to overcome the low ionic conductivity of traditional SPEs at room temperature. PVA has a high glass transition temperature (358 K) and good mechanical properties, and despite being atactic, it can crystallize, especially if highly hydrolyzed. From an ac impedance analysis, it was found that the ionic conductivity of the PVA-based SPE increased with increasing salt concentration. In particular, a dramatic increase was observed between 40 and 50 wt% of salt. The ionic conduction mechanism of the PVA-based SPE is proposed based on intensive study using FT-IR spectroscopic measurements, XRD and AFM. Through measurements of linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) and cyclic voltammetry (CV), it is also found that the SPE with PVA and LiCF3SO3 has good electrochemical stability.