Synthesis and characterization of solid polymer electrolyte based on poly(vinyl alcohol)/gum Arabic/LiClO4

In this study, we report on poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/gum arabic (GA)/LiClO4 membranes as solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) for possible application in electrochemical devices. The samples were prepared with 0 to 48 wt% of LiClO4 as a source of ions and subjected to electrochemical, structural, morphological, optical, and thermal characterizations. The best results were obtained for PVA/GA with 24 wt% of LiClO4. This sample exhibited the highest ionic conductivity of 1.6 × 10−4 and 8.6 × 10−4 S cm−1 at 25 and 80 °C, respectively, transparency of 80–87% in the 400 and 633 nm range, being thermally stable up to 150 °C. The PVA/GA electrolytes were predominantly amorphous according to X-ray diffraction (XRD) data, and formed homogeneous surfaces in scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) images.