The Fabrication of Solid Polymer Electrolyte from CS/PEO/NaClO₄/Fly Ash Composite

Solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) have been successfully fabricated from CS/PEO/NaClO₄/Fly ash composite. Chitosan (CS), an organic polymer, was blended with polyethylene oxide (PEO) to enhance its electrochemical properties. However, SPEs based on CS/PEO composites have low conductivity. Fly ash (FA) has been studied to be used as a filler to increase the ionic conductivity of SPEs. In this study, polymer composites based on CS and PEO were developed with the addition of FA as a filler using the solution casting method. The interactions between CS, PEO, NaClO₄, and fly ash were observed using FTIR. The SPE characterization using XRD and DSC showed a decrease in crystallinity after the addition of NaClO₄ and FA. The SPE composite morphology and elemental distribution were investigated using SEM. SPE conductivity analysis using EIS showed the optimum results for SPE fabricated with a ratio of CS:PEO:NaClO₄ = 3:2:7.5, which was 1.02 × 10⁻⁴ S cm⁻¹ at 30 °C and increased to 2.13 × 10⁻³ S cm⁻¹ at 60 °C. The addition of FA (5 wt.%) increased the conductivity to 3.20 × 10⁻⁴ S cm⁻¹ at 30 °C and increased to 4.34 × 10⁻³ S cm⁻¹ at 60 °C.