AC IMPEDANCE AND VIBRATIONAL STUDIES OF BIOPOLYMER ELECTROLYTE CORNSTARCH:NH SCN

Solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) based on biopolymer play a vital role in creating materials for energy storage devices such as batteries and fuel cells. An attempt has been made to prepare solid polymer electrolyte using the biopolymer starch and the doping salt ammonium thiocyanate (NH4SCN) by solution casting technique with DMSO as solvent. The FTIR analysis confirms the complex formation between the polymer and salt. The AC impedance spectroscopy reveals that the biopolymer electrolyte 75 mol% of cornstarch: 25 mol % of NH4SCN has the maximum ionic conductivity 2.76х10-5 Scm-1 with low activation energy (0.32eV) among the prepared samples The ionic conductivity of the best conducting electrolyte increases with increase in temperature suggesting that the ionic conductivity is temperature dependent. The transport number measurement studies confirm that the ionic conductivity in these polymers is due to proton ions.