Effect of polysorbate plasticizer on the structural and ion conduction properties of PEO-NH4PF6 solid polymer electrolyte

Effects of a new plasticizer, polysorbate 80, on the structural and electrochemical properties of PEO-NH4PF6 polymer electrolyte system have been investigated. X-ray diffraction studies show significant increase in amorphicity of the solid polymer electrolyte on introduction of the plasticizer, which is also supported by lesser-dense spherulites observed in the SEM micrographs. The room temperature ionic conductivity of the electrolyte shows an increase of about two orders of magnitude (sigma(max)10(-5) S/cm) on plasticization. The frequency dependence of the conductivity has been found to obey the Jonscher's power law and slower backward ion hopping on plasticization. The polymer electrolyte shows protonic conduction as confirmed using cyclic voltammetry study. The studies show that polysorbate 80 is a promising plasticizer for semicrystalline polymer electrolytes.