Alumina Nanofiller Functionality on Electrical and Ion Transport Properties of PEO-PVdF/KNO3/SN Nanocomposite Polymer Electrolytes

Abstract

Alumina nanofiller of 20 nm size has been dispersed with different weight percentages in succinonitrile (SN) plasticized PEO/PVdF/KNO3/SN polymer electrolyte system, and the samples have been prepared by solution cast. The ionic conductivity, dielectric properties are studied using impedance spectroscopy from 1 Hz to 10 MHz at various temperatures. The dielectric response of the samples is examined through dielectric constant (ε'), dielectric loss (ε''), modulus (M' and M'') and relaxation time (τ). The thermal properties of composite polymer electrolytes dispersed with nano alumina are changed remarkably. The ionic conductivity of composite polymer electrolytes has been enhanced by one order of magnitude with the addition of nanofiller, and the maximum ionic conductivity (0.207 × 10−3 S cm−1) is noticed for 2 wt% of Al2O3. The rise in conductivity is attributed to an increase in dissociation of ions and creation of a large number of free conducting paths for ion movement by the addition of nano-sized Al2O3.

Keywords

• Nanocomposite polymer electrolyte
• Dielectric properties
• Ionic conductivity
• Impedance analysis