Structural Studies and Ionic Transport Properties of Solid Biopolymer Electrolytes Based on Chitosan/ Methyl Cellulose Blend Doped with BMIMTFSI

Abstract

Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR), was applied to investigate the complexation, structural, ionic transport properties and dominant charge carrier species in Chitosan (CS) / Methyl Cellulose (MC) blend doped with 1 – butyl – 3 – methylimidazolium bis (trifluorosulfonyl) imide (BMIMTFSI) solid biopolymer electrolytes (SBEs) which have been prepared via solution casting technique. Samples were partially opaque in appearance with no phase separation. The occurrence of interactions between the host polymer CS/MC blend and ionic dopant BMIMTFSI were proven by FT-IR analysis from the shift in C-O band in 1049 cm-1. The FTIR spectrum in the region between 1080 and 980 cm−1 were deconvoluted using Origin 8 software to disclose the percentage of free mobile ions and contact ion of the samples. Ionic transport properties analysis reveals that the ionic conductivity is dependent on the ionic mobility (μ) and diffusion of ions (D).Keywords: Biopolymer Electrolyte; Polymer Blend; Chitosan, Methylcellulose; BMITFSI; Ion transport.