Studies on a proton battery using gel polymer electrolyte

Abstract

A proton-conducting film of gel polymer electrolyte, poly(vinylidene fluoride hexafluoropropylene)/poly(methyl methacrylate) + ammonium thiocyanate + ethylene carbonate + propylene carbonate, has been prepared by solution casting technique. The ionic conductivity of the film is in the order of approximately 10−3 S cm−1 at room temperature. A proton battery with the configuration zinc + zinc sulfate heptahydrate | gel electrolyte | lead oxide + vanadium pentoxide has been fabricated using this film as electrolyte and separator between the electrodes. The battery shows an open circuit voltage of 1.45 V and energy density of approximately 10 Wh kg−1at low current drain. The rechargeability of the battery has been observed up to three cycles after which its discharge capacity starts fading.

Hydrogen ion conducting starch-chitosan blend based electrolyte for application in electrochemical devices

“…This type of surface is the same as reported by Yusof et al [27] for the blend of 80 wt.% starch and 20 wt.% chitosan. When 20 wt.% of NH 4 Cl is added to the polymer host, several particles are observed on the electrolyte surface as shown in micrograph of S4 electrolyte in Fig. 5b.…”

“…Starch-NH 4 NO 3 electrolyte achieved the highest room temperature conductivity of 2.83 Â 10 À5 S cm À1 [16]. Report by Polu and Kumar [18] shows that polyethylene glycol (PEG)-NH 4 Cl electrolyte obtained a room temperature conductivity of 9.58 Â 10 À7 S cm À1 . According to Pratap et al [10], the conductivity of $10 À5 S cm À1 is low for battery application.…”

“…The authors reported that the conductivity of polyethylene oxide (PEO)-ammonium perchlorate (NH 4 ClO 4 ) electrolyte is enhanced to $10 À4 S cm À1 when plasticized with propylene carbonate (PC), in order to use the electrolyte in proton battery. From our previous work [19], starch-chitosan-NH 4 Cl plasticized with 35 wt.% glycerol (P7 electrolyte) obtained the highest room temperature conductivity value of (5.11 AE1.60) Â 10 À4 S cm À1 , which is suitable for battery application.…”

“…For battery application, most of the proton conducting electrolytes are electrochemically decomposed at $1 to $2 V compared to Li + electrolytes ($4 V) [5][6][7][8][9]. However, due to the low cost of electrode and electrolyte materials used for proton batteries as well as no safety issues associated with them, proton batteries appear as a good alternative for low energy density battery applications [4,10].…”

“…This is because of the small radius of proton (H + ) makes it suitable for better intercalation into the layered structure of cathode [4]. For battery application, most of the proton conducting electrolytes are electrochemically decomposed at $1 to $2 V compared to Li + electrolytes ($4 V) [5][6][7][8][9].…”