Characterization of polymer/liquid crystal composite based electrolyte membranes for sodium ion battery applications

A novel PEO/E8 liquid crystal based composite solid polymer electrolyte membranes complexed with NaIO4 salt were prepared by the solution casting technique. The composite-salt complexations were examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, micro-Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) studies confirmed the decrease of percentage of crystalline portion in the matrix of electrolyte membranes upon that addition of NaIO4. The EIS studies evidenced for the increase of ionic conductivity of the electrolytes upon increase of NaIO4 concentration and in the present study, PEO/E8 electrolyte complexed with 10 wt% of NaIO4 demonstrated higher room temperature ionic conductivity of 1.05 × 10−7 S/cm.