Electrical, Dielectric Property and Electrochemical Performances of Plasticized Silver Ion-Conducting Chitosan-Based Polymer Nanocomposites

Jihad M Hadi; Shujahadeen B Aziz; Muaffaq M Nofal; Sarkawt A Hussen; Muhamad H Hamsan; Mohamad A Brza; Rebar T Abdulwahid; Mohd F Z Kadir; Haw J Woo

doi:10.3390/membranes10070151

Electrical, Dielectric Property and Electrochemical Performances of Plasticized Silver Ion-Conducting Chitosan-Based Polymer Nanocomposites

Membranes (Basel). 2020 Jul 13;10(7):151. doi: 10.3390/membranes10070151.

Authors

Jihad M Hadi¹, Shujahadeen B Aziz^{2

3}, Muaffaq M Nofal⁴, Sarkawt A Hussen², Muhamad H Hamsan⁵, Mohamad A Brza^{2

6}, Rebar T Abdulwahid^{2

7}, Mohd F Z Kadir⁸, Haw J Woo⁹

Affiliations

¹ College of Engineering, Tishk International University, Sulaimani 46001, Kurdistan Regional Government, Iraq.
² Hameed Majid Advanced Polymeric Materials Research Lab., Department of Physics, College of Science, University of Sulaimani, Sulaimani 46001, Kurdistan Regional Government, Iraq.
³ Department of Civil engineering, College of Engineering, Komar University of Science and Technology, Sulaimani 46001, Kurdistan Regional Government, Iraq.
⁴ Department of Mathematics and General Sciences, Prince Sultan University, Riyadh 11586, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Institute for Advanced Studies, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia.
⁶ Department of Manufacturing and Materials Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, International Islamic University of Malaysia, Gombak 53100, Malaysia.
⁷ Department of Physics, College of Education, University of Sulaimani, Old Campus, Sulaimani 46001, Iraq.
⁸ Centre for Foundation Studies in Science, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia.
⁹ Centre for Ionics, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia.

Abstract

In the present work, chitosan (CS) as a natural biopolymer was used to prepare nanocomposite polymer electrolytes (NCPEs) in order to reduce plastic waste pollution. The plasticized CS-based NCSPE has been prepared via the solution casting technique. The electrical properties of the films were investigated using AC conductivity, dielectric properties, electric modulus, and electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The obtained results from the dielectric properties and electric modulus study confirm the non-Debye behavior of ion dynamics. The effect of glycerol plasticizer on ionic conductivity of the CS:AgNO₃:Al₂O₃ system was investigated via AC conductivity and impedance studies. The conductivity of the samples was explained based on electrical equivalent circuits and Bode plots. The electrochemical properties such as transfer number measurement (TNM), linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), and cyclic voltammetry (CV) were carried out to inspect the sample suitability for electrochemical double-layer capacitor (EDLC) application. The highest conductivity was 3.7 × 10^-4 S cm^-1 with the electrochemical stability window up to 2.1 V at room temperature. Through the TNM study, the ionic conductivity of plasticized CS-based NCSPE was confirmed, and ion transport (t_ion) of the highest conducting sample was found to be 0.985. The activated carbon electrode with the highest conducting sample was employed in the EDLC device fabrication. Accordingly, it can be said that the highest conducting sample had capable performance to be applied in electrochemical device application.

Keywords: AC conductivity; Al2O3 nano-filler; EDLC; TNM and LSV; dielectric properties; impedance study; polymer electrolyte.