Effect of the alkyl chain length of the ionic liquid anion on polymer electrolytes properties. (1st December 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Leones, Rita; Sentanin, Franciani; Nunes, Sílvia Cristina; Esperança, José M.S.S.; Gonçalves, Maria Cristina; Pawlicka, Agnieska; Bermudez, Verónica de Zea; Silva, Maria Manuela
• Is Part Of: Electrochimica acta. Volume 184(2015)
• Page Start: 171
• Page End: 178
• Publication Date: 2015-12-01
• Subjects: Chitosan -- Polymer electrolyte -- Ionic liquid -- Alkyl-chain length; Electrochemistry -- Periodicals; Electrochemistry, Industrial -- Periodicals; 541.37
• DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2015.09.163
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0013-4686

Abstract

Graphical abstract: Abstract: New polymer electrolytes (PEs) based on chitosan and three ionic liquid (IL) families ([C2 mim][Cn SO3 ], [C2 mim][Cn SO4 ] and [C2 mim][diCn PO4 ]) were synthesized by the solvent casting method. The effect of the length of the alkyl chain of the IL anion on the thermal, morphological and electrochemical properties of the PEs was studied. The solid polymer electrolytes SPE membranes were analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), polarized optical microscopy (POM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), complex impedance spectroscopy (ionic conductivity) and cyclic voltammetry (CV). The obtained results evidenced an influence of the alkyl chain length of the IL anion on the temperature of degradation, birefringence, surface roughness and ionic conductivity of the membranes. The DSC, XRD and CV results showed independency from the length of the IL-anion-alkyl chain. The PEs displayed an predominantly amorphous morphology, a minimum temperature of degradation of 135 °C, a room temperature (T = 25 °C) ionic conductivity of 7.78 × 10 −4 S cm −1 and a wide electrochemical window of ∼ 4.0 V.