Towards the application of carboxymethyl chitin/ionic liquid blend as polymer electrolyte membrane for aqueous batteries

Meriem Latifi; Azizan Ahmad; Nur Hasyareeda Hassan; Hicham Ben Youcef; Hamid Kaddami

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2021.118542

Towards the application of carboxymethyl chitin/ionic liquid blend as polymer electrolyte membrane for aqueous batteries

Carbohydr Polym. 2021 Dec 1:273:118542. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2021.118542. Epub 2021 Aug 10.

Authors

Meriem Latifi¹, Azizan Ahmad², Nur Hasyareeda Hassan², Hicham Ben Youcef³, Hamid Kaddami⁴

Affiliations

¹ Cadi Ayyad University, Faculty of Sciences and Technologies, Laboratory IMED-Lab, Avenue AbdelkrimElkhattabi, B.P. 549, Marrakech, Morocco; Faculty of Science and Technology, School of Chemical Sciences and Food Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.
² Faculty of Science and Technology, School of Chemical Sciences and Food Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.
³ Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), HTMR-Lab, Lot 660 - Hay Moulay Rachid, 43150 Benguerir, Morocco. Electronic address: hicham.benyoucef@um6p.ma.
⁴ Cadi Ayyad University, Faculty of Sciences and Technologies, Laboratory IMED-Lab, Avenue AbdelkrimElkhattabi, B.P. 549, Marrakech, Morocco. Electronic address: h.kaddami@uca.ma.

PMID: 34560954
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2021.118542

Abstract

Carboxymethyl chitin (CMChit) has the potential to be used as a solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) based on its ionic conductivity value of the order of 10^-6 S·cm^-1 in self-standing membranes. In controlled humidity of 65RH%, carboxymethyl chitin based membrane blended with 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate (BMIM[Ac]) ionic liquid (IL) (40 wt%) showed a threshold value of ionic conductivity in the order of 10^-4 S·cm^-1 and electrochemical stability was up to 2.93 V. The effects of the relative humidity and ionic liquid weight fraction on the ionic conductivity and structural changes were investigated in detail. Furthermore, the X-ray diffraction (XRD) diffractogram indicated a clear reduction of crystallinity of the CMChit. The Field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) observation of the cross-sections confirmed the homogeneity of the prepared blend. This electrolyte was tested in symmetric cells based on Zn//SPE//Zn and showed good reversibility and potential for application in proton-conducting batteries.

Keywords: Carboxymethyl chitin; Ionic liquid; Membrane; Proton battery; Solid polymer electrolyte.