Influence of nano SrTiO3 and ultrasonic irradiation on the properties of polymer blend electrolytes.

Lithium (Li+) ion conducting nanocomposite polymer blend electrolytes (NCPBEs) based on poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), poly(vinylidene fluoride hexafluoropropylene) (P(VdF-HFP)) as polymer hosts, lithium perchlorate (LiClO4) as an electrolyte and strontium titanate (SrTiO3) as a nanofiller have been prepared by both the conventional stirring and ultrasonic irradiation methods. Complex formation and hence the structural changes of the prepared samples have been confirmed by X-ray diffraction analysis. Conductivity studies have been carried out by means of AC impedance spectroscopy. In order to highlight the role of ultrasonic irradiation, conductivity values have been compared with the values obtained through conventional mechanical stirring method. It has been found that the system with 15 minutes of ultrasonic irradiation resulted in better homogenous dispersion of SrTiO3 in PEO/P(VDF-HFP)/LiClO4 matrix. Maximum ionic conductivity of 2.519 × 10−4 Scm−1 has been obtained for 6 wt% of SrTiO3 system which is a magnitude higher than the ionic conductivity value, 2.031 × 10−5 Scm−1 obtained for the original NCPBE prepared using conventional mechanical stirring at room temperature. Further, ionic conductivity value increases with the increase of temperature and it exhibit the Arrhenius relation. Higher degree of free ionic motion in the samples has been proven by the increase in intensity of photoluminescence spectra peaks. The dielectric properties of the prepared samples have also been studied using the complex dielectric permittivity spectra and complex electric modulus spectra. The morphology and hence the surface roughness of the samples have been depicted through AFM study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]