Preparation and characterization of solid polymeric electrolyte of poly(vinyl) chloride‐low‐molecular weight LENR50 (70/30)‐LiClO₄

Abstract

This work presents the preparation of a free standing electrolyte film containing poly(vinyl) chloride (PVC) and 50% liquid epoxidized natural rubber (LENR50) blends as a host for the electrolyte that was doped with lithium perchlorate (LiClO 4 ) as the dopant salt. The electrolyte was prepared via solution-casting technique. From the impedance result, the highest ionic conductivity obtained was 9.6 Â 10 À9 S cm À1 at the 30 wt % of LiClO 4 . This ionic conductivity result was supported by XRD analysis that showed the addition of 5-30 wt % of LiClO 4 salt to the PVC-LENR50 was well dissociated in the electrolyte as no salt peaks were observed. This implies that the salt was fully complexed in the system. Thermal analysis revealed that T g increased with lithium salts concentration. This is due to the formation of transient crosslinkage bonds and increasing viscosity. The morphological studies revealed the good homogeneity of the PVC-LENR50 (70/30) blend as no phase separation was observed. In addition, the formation of micropores with an addition of salts in the electrolyte improved the mobility properties of Li þ ions in the electrolyte system. Hence, it improves the ionic conductivity. V C 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 126: E159-E165, 2012