Development of ionic liquid mediated novel polymer electrolyte membranes for application in Na-ion batteries

Polymer electrolyte membranes based on polymer PEO, ionic liquid, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium methylsulfate, BMIM-MS, and salt, sodium methylsulfate, NaMS, {PEO + x wt% BMIM-MS for x = 0 and 20 and (PEO + 10 wt% of NaMS) + x wt% BMIM-MS for x = 0, 20 and 60} were prepared and characterized by various experimental techniques such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)/differential thermogravimetric analysis (DTGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), ac impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry (CV). The synthesized polymer electrolyte membranes were free-standing and flexible with good mechanical stability. A Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic (FTIR) study showed the complexation of ether oxygen of the PEO backbone with the cations of the Na-salt or IL (BMIM-MS). SEM, XRD and DSC studies show that the crystallinity of the polymer electrolyte membranes decreases on increasing the concentration of IL due to the plasticization effect of the IL. Ionic conductivity of polymer electrolyte membranes was found to increase with the concentration of IL (BMIM-MS) and showed a maximum room temperature (at ∼30 °C) ionic conductivity of ∼1.05 × 10−4 S cm−1 for 60 wt% IL loading. The plasticization effect of the IL enhanced the amorphicity of the polymeric membranes. This optimized composition of polymer electrolyte shows high electrochemical potential window (∼4–5 V), cationic transference number (i.e. tNa+ ∼ 0.46) and also good cycling between ∼2.7 and ∼1.6 V through charging–discharging.