Structural and electrical properties of cross-linked blends of Xanthan gum and polyvinylpyrrolidone-based solid polymer electrolyte

Research based on solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) has been improved extensively over the past few decades owing to their abundance in nature, non-toxicity, low cost, and biodegradability. In this study, natural microbial polymer Xanthan gum (XG) and biodegradable synthetic polymer polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-based SPEs are synthesized by the solution casting method. The improvement in the amorphous nature of the blend electrolytes is investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The complex nature of the blended electrolytes is analyzed using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The conductivity of the 2 XG/98PVP polymer complex is found to be maximum, with a value of 1.01 x 10-6 Scm-1 at room temperature observed by electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Using a temperature-dependent plot, activation energy (Ea) is found to be minimum with a value of 0.21 eV for the higher conducting sample. From the Argand plot, the non-Debye nature of the polymer electrolytes is confirmed. The lowest relaxation time (& tau;) of 6.2 x 10-5 s is observed for the 2 XG/98PVP electrolyte by using the loss tangent spectra. Transference number analysis (TNA) is observed for the confirmation of conductivity due to ions by Wagner's polarization method.

Automated summary

In this study, solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) based on natural microbial polymer Xanthan gum (XG) and biodegradable synthetic polymer polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) were synthesized. The improvement in the amorphous nature of the blend electrolytes was investigated using X-ray diffraction. The highest conductivity was observed in the 2 XG/98PVP polymer complex, and the non-Debye nature of the polymer electrolytes was confirmed.