Synthesis and morphological change in poly(ethylene oxide)–sodium chlorate based polymer electrolyte complex with polyaniline

The composites of polyethylene oxide:polyaniline:sodium chlorate is prepared by stirring with anhydrous acetonitrile for 5–6 h to form homogeneous solutions/gels at different weight percentages. The composites are characterized by FTIR and SEM. The predominant peaks that appeared in FTIR spectra confirm the formation of PEO:PANI:NaClO4 composites. It is found from the SEM studies that there is a significant change in the morphology of various weight percentages of NaClO4 in PEO–PANI matrix, i.e. from ellipsoidal to square. DC conductivity behavior is seen due to hopping of polarons from one localized state to another that can be confirmed by Mott theory. It is observed from the DC conductivity and SEM studies that these composites can be promising candidates for solid state electrolytes.

Research highlights
► In this paper, we mainly reported the change in morphology, as percentage of dopants change in the poly(ethylene oxide) matrix.
► Also we have studied the change in transport properties of PEO:PANI:NaClO4 composites.