Ion Transport Properties of Hot-Pressed Solid Polymer Electrolytes: (1-x) PEO: x NaHCO3

Ion transport properties of hot-pressed Solid Polymer Electrolyte (SPE) membranes: (1-x) PEO: x NaHCO
₃
, where x = 0 50 wt. (%), has been reported. SPE films have been casted using a hot-press technique in place of the traditional solution cast method. A conductivity enhancement of the two orders of magnitude was achieved in SPE film: 70PEO: 30NaHCO
₃
and this composition has been referred to as Optimum Conducting Composition (OCC). Materials characterization was done with the help of FTIR and DSC techniques. The ion transport behavior in SPE membranes have been discussed on the basis of experimental measurements on their ionic conductivity (σ) and other parameters. The temperature dependent conductivity studies have also been done to compute the activation energy (Ea) values by least square linear fitting of 'log σ 1/T' Arrhenius plots.