Thermal Stability, Complexing Behavior, and Ionic Transport of Polymeric Gel Membranes Based on Polymer PVdF-HFP and Ionic Liquid, [BMIM][BF4]

PVdF-HFP + IL(1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate; [BMIM][BF4]) polymeric gel membranes containing different amounts of ionic liquid have been synthesized and characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and complex impedance spectroscopic techniques. Incorporation of IL in PVdF-HFP polymer changes different physicochemical properties such as melting temperature (T-m), thermal stability, structural morphology, amorphicity, and ionic transport. It is shown by FTIR, TGA (also first derivative of TGA, "DTGA") that IL partly complexes with the polymer PVdF-HFP and partly remains dispersed in the matrix. The ionic conductivity of polymeric gel membranes has been found to increase with increasing concentration of IL and attains a maximum value of 1.6 X 10(-2) S.cm(-1) for polymer gel membrane containing 90 wt % IL at room temperature. Interestingly, the values of conductivity of membranes with 80 and 90 wt % of IL were higher than that of pure IL (100 wt %). The polymer chain breathing model has been suggested to explain it. The variation of ionic conductivity with temperature of these gel polymeric membranes follows Arrhenius type thermally activated behavior.