Electrochemical cell performance studies on all-solid-state battery using nano-composite polymer electrolyte membrane

All-solid-state proton-conducting polymeric batteries have been fabricated in the cell configurations: Zn + ZnSO₄·7H₂O (anode) || polyethylene oxide (PEO):NH₄HSO₄ + SiO₂ || MnO₂ + C (cathode) and Zn + ZnSO₄·7H₂O (anode) || PEO:NH₄HSO₄ + SiO₂ || PbO₂ + V₂O₅ + C (cathode). Nano-composite proton-conducting polymeric membrane in wt.% composition, 92PEO: 8 NH₄HSO₄ + 3 SiO₂, synthesized by solution cast technique, has been used as electrolyte. Dispersal of nanosized (8 nm) fumed-SiO₂ particles resulted into an enhancement in the room temperature conductivity of polymer electrolyte host, 92PEO: 8 NH₄HSO₄ (wt.%), approximately by an order of magnitude with the substantial increase in the mechanical strength of the films. Details on the electrolyte film casting and ion transport characterization studies have been discussed elsewhere in the literature. However, a brief mention has been made for reference. An open circuit voltage in the range 1.5–1.8 V, obtained for both the batteries, is in very good agreement with the value reported. The cell performance has been studied under varying load conditions. Paper presented at the Third International Conference on Ionic Devices (ICID 2006), Chennai, Tamilnadu, India, Dec. 7–9, 2006.