Effect of MgO nanoparticles on ionic conductivity and electrochemical properties of nanocomposite polymer electrolyte

Abstract This paper analyzes the comparison between the performances and morphologies of the PMMA gel and composite electrolyte membrane with nanosized MgO particles. These polymer electrolytes were studied in detailed using XRD, DSC, SEM and AC impedance analysis. The conductivity enhancement has been attributed to the addition of ceramic filler that yields a significant increase of surface to volume ratio related to the decrease in glass transition temperature values in the composite polymer electrolyte. Good interfacial stability at the electrode/electrolyte interface resulted on account of the improved ion dissociation by ceramic filler and a rise in the room temperature conductivity (8.14 × 10 −3  S cm −1 ) due to the iono-covalent or Lewis acid–base bonds to the ions and ether oxygen base groups was also observed. Further enhancement of conductivity has been observed on MgO surface, as Lewis-acidic sites interact with both PMMA and ClO 4 − ions. The percentage of swelling was found to increase with increasing soaking periods upto 12 h. Beyond that soaking period, it was found that there was a negligible increase in the % of swelling.