Ionic hopping conductivity in potential batteries separator based on natural rubber-nanocellulose green nanocomposites

In this work, the electrical properties of green nanocomposites based on natural rubber (NR) had been explored. Nanocellulose was extracted from the rachis of date palm tree and used as nanofillers in two forms: nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) and cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs). The resulting samples were characterized by dielectric spectroscopy in a board temperature range (20 °C-200 °C) and in the frequency range of 0.1 Hz to 1 MHz. The temperature and frequency dependencies of conductivity give evidence for ion transport mechanism via the occurred agreement of experimental results with the employed hopping model (Random Free-Energy Barrier model). Conductivity was found to increase highly for filled nanocomposite, especially at high CNC content. Favorable interactions between NFC and NR were evidenced and assumed to be partially responsible for the lower conductivity of NFC-filled nanocomposites. The NR-CNC green nanocomposite films had a high potential to be used for electrical applications and they should be a very promising candidate for battery separators.