Study of bare and functionalized Zirconia Nanoparticles Filled Polymer Electrolytes Based on a Polyurethane
- PDF / 347,484 Bytes
- 6 Pages / 612 x 792 pts (letter) Page_size
- 105 Downloads / 177 Views
EE3.14.1
Study of bare and functionalized Zirconia Nanoparticles Filled Polymer Electrolytes Based on a Polyurethane Paulo V. S. da Conceição, Luiz O. Faria, Adelina P. Santos, Clascídia A. Furtado Centro de Desenvolvimento da Tecnologia Nuclear - CDTN/CNEN, C.P. 941, 30123-970, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil. ABSTRACT In this work, composite polymer electrolytes based on a thermoplastic polyurethane/LiClO4 amorphous system and on bare and functionalized zirconia nanoparticles as a filler are reported. The ceramic nanoparticles were synthesized via the sol-gel route using zirconium butoxide as the precursor for zirconium oxide nanoclusters and methacrylic acid as an organic modifier group. The salt concentration in the polymer phase was 17 wt% and fillers were added in the range between 2 and 10wt%. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to characterize the average size and the homogeneity of the nanoparticles in the polymer matrix, while impedance spectroscopy (IS) was used to evaluate the ionic conductivity of the composites. The addition of zirconia fillers results in an increase in ionic conductivity for all filled systems. The results also show that the functionalization of the zirconia nanoparticles promotes a significant increase in conductivity, suggesting that the interaction of the metracrylate-functionalized fillers with the polyurethane matrix was greatly improved. These results raise interest in the study of organically modified ceramic clusters as fillers for electrolyte polymers. INTRODUCTION The addition of inorganic fillers has been demonstrated to be an effective method to improve the ionic conductivity, mechanical strength, and thermal stability of polymeric electrolyte systems [1-7]. The changes in their properties are related to both the size and the surface characteristics of the ceramic particles. It has also been reported that the benefits of this approach are greatly increased when the size of the ceramic particles used in the filling process is reduced to the nanoscale. This finding has directed the research of these materials toward the area of nanocomposite polymer electrolytes (NCPE). According to Scrosati and co-workers [34], the inclusion of nano-sized fillers into poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) - Li+ systems not only promotes a stable enhancement in the low-temperature ionic conductivity by an order of magnitude, but also improves both the electrochemical stability and the compatibility between the electrolyte and lithium electrodes. The gain in conductivity is accompanied by an increase in the Li+ transport number, reaching a value as high as 0.6 in the temperature range of 45-90 °C, thus bringing these materials very close for practical requirements to the development of advanced lithium batteries. Most of the studies on NCPE’s are focused on semi-crystalline PEO-based electrolytes due their superior properties as a host polymer matrix for Li+ transport. The effect of the inclusion of inorganic nanoparticles into these systems has been associated with two factors: i) an increase in th
Data Loading...
