Phosphonated graphene oxide modified polyacrylamide hydrogel electrolytes for solid state zinc ion batteries

Compared to rigid batteries using liquid electrolytes, solid state batteries SSBs offer several advantages flexibility, prevention of leakage, suppression of dendritic formation and hydrogen evolution, as well as minimization of cathode active material dissolution. For the materialization of real life SSBs, gel polymer electrolytes GPEs are among promising candidates. However, development of GPEs with satisfying ionic conductivity and mechanical endurance is challenging. Herein, we report on the development of polyacrylamide PAM phosphonated graphene oxide PGO nanocomposite hydrogel electrolytes for zinc ion batteries; PGO acts as the filler through in situ polymerization of acrylamide in an aqueous suspension of PGO. The synthesized PAM PGO hydrogel exhibits high ionic conductivity of 31.0 mS cm at 30 C compared to that of PAM 13.8 mS cm and PAM GO 20.8 mS cm . The higher ionic conductivity of PAM PGO can be attributed to its higher hydrophilicity and electrolyte storage capacity along with its lower activation energy for ionic conduction 7.2 KJ mol K in comparison with that of PAM 10.1 KJ mol K and PAM GO 10.2 KJ mol K . The interaction between water against PAM, PAM GO and PAM PGO is investigated via density functional theory DFT . The MnO2 based zinc ion battery assembled using PAM PGO as electrolyte shows high initial capacity of 240 mAh g, losing only 4 and 15 of its capacity after 100 and 145 cycles, respectively. Results demonstrate promising potential of PAM PGO as a solid state electrolyte for flexible battery application

Characterization of polypropylene/layered silicate nanocomposites prepared by single-step method

The extent of organo-modified clay (C93A) platelets dispersion in polymer matrix and crystallization and melting behavior of iPP-based nanocomposites prepared by a single-step melt-mixing method were investigated by wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD), transmission (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). WAXD patterns revealed exfoliated structure of nanocomposites containing 1 wt% clay, and mixed intercalated/exfoliated structure at higher concentration of nanoclay. The isothermal crystallization proceeds faster in the matrix polymer (iPP/PP-g-MA) than in nanocomposite samples. The results obtained for T m o suggest that the presence of nanoclay has induced a perfection of the formed crystals. The presence of C93A particles in PP leads to increase in crystallization peak temperature implying nucleating ability of clay particles, which was more pronounced in exfoliated than in mixed intercalated/exfoliated system