Ionic relaxation in PEO/PVDF-HFP-LiClO4 blend polymer electrolytes: dependence on salt concentration

In this paper, we have studied the effect of LiClO4 salt concentration on the ionic conduction and relaxation in poly ethylene oxide (PEO) and poly (vinylidene fluoride hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) blend polymer electrolytes, in which the molar ratio of ethylene oxide segments to lithium ions (R = EO: Li) has been varied between 3 and 35. We have observed two phases in the samples containing low salt concentrations (R > 9) and single phase in the samples containing high salt concentrations (R. 9). The scanning electron microscopic images indicate that there exists no phase separation in the blend polymer electrolytes. The temperature dependence of the ionic conductivity shows two slopes corresponding to high and low temperatures and follows Arrhenius relation for the samples containing low salt concentrations (R > 9). The conductivity relaxation as well as the structural relaxation has been clearly observed at around 10(4) Hz and 10(6) Hz for these concentrations of the blended electrolytes. However, a single conductivity relaxation peak has been observed for the compositions with R <= 9. The scaling of the conductivity spectra shows that the relaxation mechanism is independent of temperature, but depends on salt concentration.