Magnesium ion-conducting gel polymer electrolytes dispersed with nanosized magnesium oxide

2009 
Abstract Experimental investigations are performed on novel magnesium ion-conducting gel polymer electrolyte nanocomposites based on poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVdF-HFP), dispersed with nanosized magnesium oxide (MgO) particles. The nanocomposite materials are in the form of free-standing films. Various physical and electrochemical analyses demonstrate promising characteristics of these films, suitable as electrolytes in rechargeable magnesium batteries. The optimized material with 3 wt.% MgO offers a maximum electrical conductivity of ∼8 × 10 −3  S cm −1 at room temperature (∼25 °C) with good thermal and electrochemical stabilities. The ion/filler–polymer interactions and possible conformational changes in host polymer PVdF-HFP due to the liquid electrolyte entrapment and dispersion of nanosized MgO are examined by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopic (SEM) methods. The Mg 2+ ion conduction in the gel film is confirmed from the cyclic voltammetry, impedance spectroscopy and transport number measurements. The Mg 2+ ion transport number ( t + ) is enhanced substantially and found to have a maximum of ∼0.44 for the addition of 10 wt.% MgO nanoparticles. The enhancement in t + is explained on the basis of the formation of space-charge regions due to the presence of MgO:Mg 2+ -like species, that supports Mg 2+ ion motion.
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