Improvement of the Structural and Electrical Properties of the Proton-Conducting PVA-NH4NO3 Solid Polymer Electrolyte System by Incorporating Nanosized Anatase TiO2 Single-Crystal

• Published in: Journal of electronic materials 2023-06, Vol.52 (6), p.3921-3930
• Main Authors: Abdullah, Omed Gh, Mustafa, Bakhan S., Bdewi, Shahbaa F., Ahmed, Hawzhin T., Mohamad, Azhin H., Suhail, Mahdi H.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ammonium nitrate; Anatase; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Conducting polymers; Dielectric relaxation; Electrical properties; Electrolytes; Electronics and Microelectronics; Instrumentation; Ion currents; Ions; Materials Science; Nanocomposites; Optical and Electronic Materials; Original Research Article; Polymers; Polyvinyl alcohol; Protons; Single crystals; Solid State Physics; Temperature dependence; Titanium dioxide
• ISSN: 0361-5235; 1543-186X
• DOI: 10.1007/s11664-023-10399-6

A proton-conducting nanocomposite polymer electrolyte (NCPE) system, based on polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as the host polymer and ammonium nitrate (NH 4 NO 3 ) as the proton source, has been prepared with different concentrations of nanosized titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) by solution casting. The changes in the structural features related to the electrical properties have been studied using XRD analysis, which revealed that the NCPE sample with 8 wt.% TiO 2 NPs exhibits the highest amorphous content. The addition of single-crystal TiO 2 NPs to the proton-conducting polymer electrolyte has resulted in a remarkable enhancement of the ionic conductivity of the system. A maximum DC conductivity of 5.52 × 10 −3 S cm −1 at 303 K has been achieved for the NCPE containing 8 wt.% of TiO 2 NPs. The temperature-dependent ionic conductivity was displayed in a typical Vogel–Tammann–Fulcher-type equation, indicating a direct correlation between ionic conductivity and segmental movements of the PVA chains. The AC conductivity spectra of NCPEs have been studied in terms of the universal power law of Jonscher, and the dielectric relaxation phenomenon was analyzed using electric modulus formalism to assess if the relaxation is Debye or non-Debye type.