Structural and A.C. Conductivity Studies of (PVdF + NaClO4) Solid Polymer Electrolyte System for an Electrochemical Cell Applications

Abstract

An investigation is carried out on a new solid polymer electrolyte system consisting of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVdF) as a host polymer, sodium perchlorate, as salt. Solid polymer electrolyte films were prepared by solution-casting technique and characterized by using IR, DSC, composition-dependence conductivity and transference number studies. IR studies revealed that the complexation of the polymer poly(vinylidene fluoride) with NaClO₄. Differential scanning calorimetery was used to determine the melting temperatures of the pure and complexed films. The maximum ionic conductivity for 60 PVdF + 40 NaClO₄ polymer electrolyte system was found to be 1.78 × 10^-5 S/cm at room temperature. Transference number data suggests that the charge transport in this polymer electrolyte system is mainly due to ions. Electrochemical cells were fabricated with the configuration of Na⁺/(PVdF+NaClO₄)/(I₂+C+electrolyte) and discharge characteristics were studied under a constant load of 100 KW. Various cell parameters, such as open circuit voltage, short circuit current, power density and energy density were determined.