Laser Raman and ac impedance spectroscopic studies of PVA:NH4NO3 polymer electrolyte

Ion Conducting polymer electrolyte PVA:NH4NO3 has been prepared by solution casting technique and characterized using XRD, Raman and ac impedance spectroscopic analyses. The amorphous nature of the polymer films has been confirmed by XRD and Raman spectroscopy. An insight into the deconvoluted Raman peaks of nu(1) vibration of NO3- anion for the polymer electrolyte reveals the dominancy of ion aggregates at higher NH4NO3 concentration. From the ac impedance studies, the highest ion conductivity at 303 K has been found to be 7.5 x 10(-3) S cm(-1) for 80PVA:20NH(4)NO(3). The conductivity of the polymer electrolytes has been found to depend on the degree of dissociation of the salt in the host polymer matrix. The combination of the above-mentioned analyses has proven worth while and in fact necessary in order to achieve better understanding of these complex systems. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.