Conductivity studies on cellulose acetate-ammonium tetrafluoroborate based polymer electrolytes

In this work, cellulose acetate was doped, with ammonium tetrafluoroborate as doping salt, to form polymer electrolytes. Further enhancement in conductivity was carried out by plasticising the salted polymer electrolytes with polyethylene glycols (polyethylene glycol 600). The ionic conductivity sigma of the films was determined using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The highest sigma obtained for the cellulose acetate-ammonium tetrafluoroborate film was 2.18 x 10(-7) S cm(-1) and enhanced to 1.41 x 10(-5) S cm(-1) with the addition of 30 wt-% polyethylene glycol 600. The data were then analysed using complex permittivity epsilon* and complex electrical modulus formalism M* for the highest conductivity unplasticised and plasticised samples at various temperatures. The temperature dependent conductivity data obey the Arrhenius relationship. The polymer-salt complexation has also been confirmed by attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectral studies.