Effect of ethylene carbonate plasticizer and TiO2 nanoparticles on 49% poly(methyl methacrylate) grafted natural rubber-based polymer electrolyte

The effect of plasticizer and TiO2 nanoparticles on the conductivity, chemical interaction and surface morphology of polymer electrolyte of MG49–EC–LiClO4–TiO2 has been investigated. The electrolyte films were successfully prepared by solution casting technique. The ceramic filler, TiO2, was synthesized in situ by sol-gel process and was added into the MG49–EC–LiClO4 electrolyte system. Alternating current electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was employed to investigate the ionic conductivity of the electrolyte films at 25 °C, and the analysis showed that the addition of TiO2 filler and ethylene carbonate (EC) plasticizer has increased the ionic conductivity of the electrolyte up to its optimum level. The highest conductivity of 1.1 × 10−3 Scm−1 was obtained at 30 wt.% of EC. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy measurement was employed to study the interactions between lithium ions and oxygen atoms that occurred at carbonyl (C=O) and ether (C-O-C) groups. The scanning electron microscopy micrograph shows that the electrolyte with 30 wt.% EC posses the smoothest surface for which the highest conductivity was obtained.