Electrochemical characteristics of the dimercaptan-poly(ethylene oxide) grafted polyaniline electrodes

The electrochemical and transport properties of the 2,5-dimercapto-1,3,4-thiadiazole (DMcT)/poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) grafted polyaniline electrodes and the DMcT/polyaniline electrode interfaced with the poly(acrylonitrile) (PAN) based solid-polymer-electrolyte (SPE) containing lithium perchlorate and ethylene carbonate were studied. Compared with the electrochemical and transport properties of the DMcT/polyaniline electrode, the capacitance and voltammetric current density, obtained by cyclic voltammetry, were increased for the electrode with low grafted polyaniline (less than 3 mol. %), while decreased when the applied copolymers were highly grafted ones. The charge transfer resistance obtained from impedance measurements was much smaller in the DMcT/PEO grafted polyaniline electrode than that in the DMcT/polyaniline electrode, and more pronounced reduction of charge transfer resistance was observed for the electrode with low grafted polyaniline. The diffusion coefficient of lithium cation in the electrode was increased when the PEO grafted polyaniline was used as an electrode material, however, the increase of the diffusion coefficient was less significant at higher graft degrees. All these changes in electrochemical and transport characteristics by the employment of PEO chains upon polyaniline backbones were attributed to the enhancement of lithium ion solvation and enlarged free volume in the electrode.