Conductivity studies on PEO:NaClO3 electrolyte system with different plasticizers

A new ion conducting solid polymer electrolyte thin film based on Polyethylene oxide (PEO) with NaClO₃ salt is prepared by solution-casting method. The solvation of salt with PEO has been confirmed by X-ray diffraction and IR spectral studies. Plasticizer effects were studied in PEO:NaClO₃ system by using low molecular weight polyethylene glycol (PEG), dimethyl formamide (DMF) and propylene carbonate(PC). AC conductivity in the temperature range (308–378 K) was measured to evaluate the conductivity of the polymer electrolytes. From the conductivity data, it was found that the conductivity value of pure PEO increases 10²–10⁴ order of magnitude with the addition of salts as well as plasticizers. From the transference number experiments, it was confirmed that the charge transport in these electrolyte is mainly due to the ions (t_ion≈0.94). Finally, the conductivity value of all PEO: NaClO₃ systems were compared.