Effect of succinonitrile on electrical, structural, optical, and thermal properties of [poly(ethylene oxide)-succinonitrile]/LiI–I2 redox-couple solid polymer electrolyte

Effect of succinonitrile on electrical, structural, optical, and thermal properties of [poly(ethylene oxide)-succinonitrile]/LiI–I2 redox-couple solid polymer electrolyte is reported for the first time. For the poly(ethylene oxide)-succinonitrile blend-based electrolyte electrical conductivity was noted as high as ∼3 × 10−4 S cm−1 at 25 °C, which is an order of magnitude higher than that of pure poly(ethylene oxide)-based electrolyte. It also exhibited relatively better pseudo-activation energy (∼0.08 eV). X-ray diffractometry, polarized optical microscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry studies revealed that succinonitrile is helpful in reducing the poly(ethylene oxide) crystallinity due to its plasticizing property. FT-IR study showed significant modification of the poly(ethylene oxide) chain conformation due to the succinonitrile.