Nanocomposite polymer electrolytes based on poly(oxyethylene) and cellulose whiskers

• Main Authors: My Ahmed Saïd Azizi Samir, Fannie Alloin, Jean-Yves Sanchez, Alain Dufresne
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Associação Brasileira de Polímeros 2005-06-01
• Series: Polímeros
• Subjects: Nanocomposite; polymer electrolyte; cellulose; poly(oxyethylene)
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0104-14282005000200009

Solid lithium-conducting nanocomposite polymer electrolytes based on poly(oxyethylene) (POE) were prepared from high aspect ratio cellulosic whiskers and lithium imide salt, LiTFSI. The cellulosic whiskers were extracted from tunicate -a sea animal- and consisted of slender parallelepiped rods that have an average length around 1 µm and a width close to 15 nm. High performance nanocomposite electrolytes were obtained. The filler provided a high reinforcing effect while a high level of ionic conductivity was retained with respect to unfilled polymer electrolytes. Cross-linking and plasticizing of the matrix as well as preparation of the composites from an organic medium were also investigated.