Energy Storage Application of Plasticized Biopolymer Blend Electrolyte Doped with Ammonium Nitrate as H+ Provider

Recently, proton-conducting electrolytes for energy storage purposes attracted the focus of many research groups as possible alternatives for Li-based energy storage applications. Natural polymers offer a promising solution to counter the environmental impact of synthetic polymers. In this work proton conducting CS:POZ based natural polymer electrolytes were plasticized with glycerol (GL) to improve the ion conductivity and increase the free ion percentage. The films of CS:POZ:NH4NO3 electrolyte were prepared using the casting technique. The plasticizers were changed from 9 to 36wt.%. The FTIR method revealed ion interaction among polymer, salt, and plasticizer. The deconvolution of FTIR band associated with NO3 anion was used to calculate the ion transport parameters (ITPs). It was found that the free ion contour area was enhanced by increasing plasticizer concentration. The EIS plot fitted with equivalent circuit elements was used to determine the DC conductivity and ITPs. The dominancy of ion species was examined using TNM measurement. The safety region for energy storage device (ESD) application was found from the LSV examination. The activated carbon was used to manufacture the electrodes for ESD application. The cyclic voltammetry (CV) investigation found that the capacitances of the ESD influenced by scan rates.