The Study of Plasticized Solid Polymer Blend Electrolytes Based on Natural Polymers and Their Application for Energy Storage EDLC Devices

Elham M A Dannoun; Shujahadeen B Aziz; Mohamad A Brza; Muaffaq M Nofal; Ahmad S F M Asnawi; Yuhanees M Yusof; Shakhawan Al-Zangana; Muhamad H Hamsan; Mohd F Z Kadir; Haw J Woo

doi:10.3390/polym12112531

The Study of Plasticized Solid Polymer Blend Electrolytes Based on Natural Polymers and Their Application for Energy Storage EDLC Devices

Polymers (Basel). 2020 Oct 29;12(11):2531. doi: 10.3390/polym12112531.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Associate Director of General Science Department, Woman Campus, Prince Sultan University, P. O. Box 66833, Riyadh 11586, Saudi Arabia.
² Hameed Majid Advanced Polymeric Materials Research Lab., Physics, College of Science, University of Sulaimani, Qlyasan Street, 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 Manufacturing and Materials Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, International Islamic University of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Gombak, Malaysia.
⁵ Department of Mathematics and General Sciences, Prince Sultan University, P. O. Box 66833, Riyadh 11586, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Chemical Engineering Section, Universiti Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian Institute of Chemical & Bioengineering Technology (UniKL MICET), Alor Gajah 78000, Malacca, Malaysia.
⁷ Department of Physics, College of Education, University of Garmian, Kalar 46021, Iraq.
⁸ Institute for Advanced Studies, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia.
⁹ Centre for Foundation Studies in Science, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia.
¹⁰ Centre for Ionics, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia.

Abstract

In this work, plasticized magnesium ion-conducting polymer blend electrolytes based on chitosan:methylcellulose (CS:MC) were prepared using a solution cast technique. Magnesium acetate [Mg(CH₃COO)₂] was used as a source of the ions. Nickel metal-complex [Ni(II)-complex)] was employed to expand the amorphous phase. For the ions dissociation enhancement, glycerol plasticizer was also engaged. Incorporating 42 wt% of the glycerol into the electrolyte system has been shown to improve the conductivity to 1.02 × 10^-4 S cm^-1. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed that the electrolyte with the highest conductivity has a minimum crystallinity degree. The ionic transference number was estimated to be more than the electronic transference number. It is concluded that in CS:MC:Mg(CH₃COO)₂:Ni(II)-complex:glycerol, ions are the primary charge carriers. Results from linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) showed electrochemical stability to be 2.48 V. An electric double-layer capacitor (EDLC) based on activated carbon electrode and a prepared solid polymer electrolyte was constructed. The EDLC cell was then analyzed by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and galvanostatic charge-discharge methods. The CV test disclosed rectangular shapes with slight distortion, and there was no appearance of any redox currents on both anodic and cathodic parts, signifying a typical behavior of EDLC. The EDLC cell indicated a good cyclability of about (95%) for throughout of 200 cycles with a specific capacitance of 47.4 F/g.

Keywords: cyclic voltammetry study; electrochemical double-layer capacitor; electrochemical impedance spectroscopy; magnesium salt; polymer blend.