Li+ ion conduction mechanism in poly (ε-caprolactone)-based polymer electrolyte

In this work, solid polymer electrolytes based on poly(E >-caprolactone) (PCL) with lithium bis(oxalato)borate as a doping salt were prepared by solution cast technique using DMF as a solvent. The electrical DC conductivity and dielectric constant of the solid polymer electrolyte samples were investigated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy over a frequency range from 50 Hz to 1 MHz. It was found that the DC conductivity increased with increase in the salt concentration to up to 4 wt% and thereafter decreased. Dielectric constant versus salt concentration was used to interpret the decrease in DC conductivity with increase in salt concentration. The DC conductivity as a function of temperature follows Arrhenius behavior in low temperature region, which reveals that ion conduction occurs through successful hopping. The curvature of DC conductivity at high temperatures indicates the contribution of segmental motion to ion conduction. High values for dielectric constant and dielectric loss were observed at low frequencies. The plateau of dielectric constant and dielectric loss at high frequencies can be observed as a result of rapid oscillation of the AC electric field. The HN dielectric function was utilized to study the dielectric relaxation. The experimental and theoretical data of dielectric constant are very close to each other at low temperatures. At high temperatures, the simulated data are more deviated from the experimental curve of dielectric constant due to the dominance of electrode polarization. The non-unity of relaxation parameters (alpha and beta) reveals that the relaxation processes in PCL-based solid electrolyte is a non-Debye type of relaxation.