Polymer electrolyte based on guar gum and ammonium thiocyanate for proton battery application

A proton conducting natural polymer electrolyte based on guar gum and ammonium thiocyanate has been prepared by solution casting method using distilled water as solvent. FTIR confirms the complex formation between polymer and salt. Using the FTIR deconvolution method, ion transport parameters were calculated. XRD spectra reveal the amorphous nature of the polymer membranes. Ionic conductivity of 4.91 x 10(-3) Scm(-1) is measured for the film containing 1.2 g of GG and 0.6 g of ammonium thiocyanate at room temperature. The glass transition temperature for the highest ion-conducting membrane is found to be 86.4 degrees C from DSC analysis. A high value of ionic transference number implies that conduction occurs primarily due to mobile ionic species. LSV studies reveal the electrochemical stability of the polymer electrolyte as 2 V. A proton battery is constructed using the highest conducting polymer electrolyte. Its OCV and short circuit current were measured to be 1.33 V and 10.3 mA. Discharge characteristics using different loads were also studied.