Ion Conducting Behaviour of Nano Dispersed Polymer Gel Electrolytes Containing NH4PF6

The effect of addition of nano size fumed silica on the conductivity and viscosity behaviour of polymer gel electrolytes containing polyethylene oxide (PEO), ammonium hexafluorophosphate (NH4PF6) and propylene carbonate (PC) has been studied. The addition of PEO increases the viscosity of electrolytes alongwith a small increase in conductivity and polymer gel electrolytes with conductivity higher than the corresponding liquid electrolytes have been obtained. Increase in conductivity with the addition of PEO and fumed silica has been explained to be due to the dissociation of ion aggregates, which is also supported by FTIR results. The thermal stability of polymer gel electrolytes improves marginally with the addition of fumed silica. The conductivity of nano dispersed gels does not show much change over 20-100 degrees C temperature range and also remains constant with time.