Substantial Proton Ion Conduction in Methylcellulose/Pectin/Ammonium Chloride Based Solid Nanocomposite Polymer Electrolytes: Effect of ZnO Nanofiller

John Ojur Dennis; Abdullahi Abbas Adam; M K M Ali; Hassan Soleimani; Muhammad Fadhlullah Bin Abd Shukur; K H Ibnaouf; O Aldaghri; M H Eisa; M A Ibrahem; Abubakar Bashir Abdulkadir; Vipin Cyriac

doi:10.3390/membranes12070706

Substantial Proton Ion Conduction in Methylcellulose/Pectin/Ammonium Chloride Based Solid Nanocomposite Polymer Electrolytes: Effect of ZnO Nanofiller

Membranes (Basel). 2022 Jul 13;12(7):706. doi: 10.3390/membranes12070706.

Authors

John Ojur Dennis¹, Abdullahi Abbas Adam^{1

2

3}, M K M Ali⁴, Hassan Soleimani¹, Muhammad Fadhlullah Bin Abd Shukur^{1

2}, K H Ibnaouf⁴, O Aldaghri⁴, M H Eisa⁴, M A Ibrahem⁴, Abubakar Bashir Abdulkadir^{1

2}, Vipin Cyriac⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Fundamental and Applied Sciences, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Seri Iskandar 32610, Perak, Malaysia.
² Centre of Innovative Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (COINN), Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Seri Iskandar 32610, Perak, Malaysia.
³ Department of Physics, Al-Qalam University Katsina, Katsina 820252, Nigeria.
⁴ Department of Physics, College of Science, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU), Riyadh 13318, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Department of Physics, Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal 576104, Karnataka, India.

Abstract

In this research, nanocomposite solid polymer electrolytes (NCSPEs) comprising methylcellulose/pectin (MC/PC) blend as host polymer, ammonium chloride (NH₄Cl) as an ion source, and zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) as nanofillers were synthesized via a solution cast methodology. Techniques such as Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) were employed to characterize the electrolyte. FTIR confirmed that the polymers, NH₄Cl salt, and ZnO nanofiller interact with one another appreciably. EIS demonstrated the feasibility of achieving a conductivity of 3.13 × 10^-4 Scm^-1 for the optimum electrolyte at room temperature. Using the dielectric formalism technique, the dielectric properties, energy modulus, and relaxation time of NH₄Cl in MC/PC/NH₄Cl and MC/PC/NH₄Cl/ZnO systems were determined. The contribution of chain dynamics and ion mobility was acknowledged by the presence of a peak in the imaginary portion of the modulus study. The LSV measurement yielded 4.55 V for the comparatively highest conductivity NCSPE.

Keywords: NCSPEs; dielectric properties; relaxation time; stability window; transference number.

Grants and funding

RG-21-09-48/The Deanship of Scientific Research at Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University