Structural and electrochemical studies of bromide derived ionic liquid-based gel polymer electrolyte for energy storage application

In the present studies, poly (vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP), ionic liquid {1-Ethyl-3methylimidazolium bromide} (EMIM)(Br), and magnesium perchlorate Mg(ClO4)(2) as salt were used to synthesize free standing electrolyte films by using solution cast technique. The prepared electrolyte films were investigated by using various structural and electrochemical techniques like scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) as well as ionic and temperature dependence studies. It has been observed that addition of ionic liquid significantly increases the properties like ionic conductivity, thermal stability, transparency etc. The maximum room temperature ionic conductivity for the optimized system was found to be of the order of 2.05 x 10-2 S cm-1 which is suitable for device fabrication point of view. The optimized electrolyte films are suitable for supercapacitor application.