Effect of SiO2Nano-particles on Plasticized Polymer Blend Electrolytes: Vibrational, Thermal, and Ionic Conductivity Study

In this paper, the effect of SiO(2)nano-particles on PVA-PVP-PEG-NaI based polymer blend electrolyte (PBE) films was studied and optimized. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and attenuated total reflection (ATR)-FTIR, thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), and ac impedance spectroscopic techniques have been used to study the structural, thermal, and dc conductivity, respectively. XRD results reveal that the characteristic peaks of PVA-PVP-PEG-SiO(2)based nano-composite PBEs appeared at 2 theta similar to 22 degrees with broad halo. ATR-FTIR result shows the complexation/interaction of silica nano-particles with the functional groups of PBEs. TGA analysis shows the thermal stability and decomposition temperature peak (T-d,T- peak) of the NCPBEs decrease with SiO(2)content. The prepared NCPBE film having 0.6 wt% SiO(2)shows maximum dc conductivity similar to 5.13x10(-6)S/cm at 30 degrees C. The ionic transference number measurement was performed by a dc polarization method, and the results reveal that the conducting species are predominately ions only. Linear sweep voltametric and cyclic voltammetric measurements have been done for electrochemical stability window study.