Effect of propylene carbonate on the ionic conductivity of polyacrylonitrile-based solid polymer electrolytes

Solid polymer electrolyte membranes consisting of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) as a host polymer, ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) as a complexing salt, and propylene carbonate (PC) as a plasticizer were prepared by a solution casting technique. An increase in the amorphous nature of the polymer electrolytes was confirmed by X-ray diffraction analysis. A shift in the glass-transition temperature of the PAN/NH4NO3/PC electrolytes was observed in the differential scanning calorimetry thermograms; this indicated interactions between the polymer and the salt. The impedance spectroscopy technique was used to study the mode of ion conduction in the plasticized polymer electrolyte. The highest ionic conductivity was found to be 7.48 x 10(-3) S/cm at 303 K for 80 mol % PAN, 20 mol % NH4NO3, and 0.02 mol % PC. The activation energy of the plasticized polymer electrolyte (80 mol % PAN/20 mol % NH4NO3/0.02 mol % PC) was found to be 0.08 eV; this was considerably lower than that of the film without the plasticizers. The dielectric behavior of the electrolyte is discussed in this article. A literature survey indicated that the synthesis and characterization of ammonium-salt-doped, proton-conducting polymer electrolytes based on PAN has been rare. The use of the best composition membrane (80 mol % PAN/20 mol % NH4NO3/0.02 mol % PC) proton battery was constructed and evaluated. (c) 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015, 132, 41743.