In-situ preparation and properties of high intensity self-supported PAN-based gel polymer electrolyte membranes

The chemical crosslinked polyacrylonitrile based gel polymer electrolyte (PAN-GPE) membranes were prepared by in-situ polymerization. The molecular structure, tensile strength, ionic conductivity and thermal properties of PAN-GPE membranes were detected with the infrared spectrometer, universal testing machine, electrochemical workstation and integrated thermal analyzer. The influence of divinyl benzene (DVB), ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) and polyethylene glycol dimethacrylate (PEGDMA) to PAN-GPE membranes were investigated. The results indicate that the crosslinkers can significantly improve the tensile strength. EGDMA is the most efficient to improve the tensile strength. The tensile strength of GPE membrane is improved from 0.26 to 5.87 MPa by adding EGDMA 2.5% (mass of monomers). In the experimental content, the crosslinkers have little effect on ionic conductivity of GPE membranes. ©, 2015, Journal of Functional Materials. All right reserved.