Ionic conductivity enhancement studies of composite polymer electrolyte based on poly (vinyl alcohol)-lithium perchlorate-titanium oxide

¹Centre for Ionics University of Malaya, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya,  Kuala Lumpur, 50603, Malaysia

²School of Foundation Studies, Xiamen University Malaysia Campus, Jalan Suria Serenia 1, Bandar Serenia, Sepang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, 43900, Malaysia

Adv. Mater. Lett., 2017, 8 (4), pp 465-471

DOI: 10.5185/amlett.2017.1410

Publication Date (Web): Mar 14, 2017

Copyright © IAAM-VBRI Press

E-mail: nghonming@hotmail.com, rameshtsubra@gmail.com

Abstract

In this study, poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA), lithium perchlorate (LiClO₄) and nano-sized titanium oxide (TiO₂) were employed as host polymer, dopant salt and inorganic filler respectively. The influence of the inorganic filler on ionic conductivity, structural and morphological properties of the polymer matrix are investigated. Ionic conductivity of polymer electrolytes is measured by ac-impedance spectroscopy at ambient temperature. The polymer electrolyte exhibits the highest ionic conductivity of 1.26×10^-4 S cm^-1 upon addition of 8 wt. % TiO₂. Dielectric behavior proves that incorporation of nano-sized TiO₂ particles shows a significant effect on the dielectric constant of the polymer electrolyte system. XRD analyses disclose that the addition of TiO₂ reduces the crystallinity of the polymer electrolytes which enhances the flexibility of polymer chains. 

Keywords

Dielectric constant, titanium oxide, ionic conductivity, loss tangent.