Understanding the LiOH effect on PVA membranes from an experimental vision and a density functional theory study

In this work, the effect of lithium hydroxide (LiOH) amalgamation on the properties of polyvinyl alcohol thermoplastic membranes, obtained by the solvent casting method, is presented. FTIR and Raman spectroscopy show the effect of Li+ on vibrations of C=O, C-O and O-H functional groups. Moreover, DRX analysis confirmed the semi-crystalline nature of the samples. The density functional theory indicates an insulator-metal transition due to the lithium incorporation in the polymer. Moreover, the formation energy and structural properties have also been calculated to understand the PVA-Li interaction. The complex impedance study at room temperature indicates an improvement in the resistance values of the membranes, with the increase of the lithium content, up to 7% of LiOH (7 * 10(2) Omega). The results reveal the importance of this type of material as candidates in solid-state electrolytes.

Automated summary

This work investigates the impact of lithium hydroxide (LiOH) amalgamation on polyvinyl alcohol thermoplastic membranes obtained by the solvent casting method. The results suggest that Li+ ions affect the vibrations of C=O, C-O, and O-H functional groups, as evidenced by FTIR and Raman spectroscopy. The semi-crystalline nature of the samples is confirmed by X-ray diffraction analysis. Density functional theory calculations reveal an insulator-metal transition due to the incorporation of lithium in the polymer. Furthermore, the complex impedance study shows that the resistance values of the membranes improve with an increase in lithium content, up to 7% of LiOH (7*10(2) Omega). These findings highlight the importance of such materials as potential candidates for solid-state electrolytes.