The Effect of HCl Concentration on the Ionic Conductivity of Liquid PMMA Oligomer

Abstract

To date gel and film type polymer electrolytes have been widely synthesized due to their wide range of electrical properties. However, these types of polymer electrolytes exhibit poor mechanical stability and poor electrode-electrolyte contact hence deprive the overall performance of a battery system. Therefore, in order to indulge the advantages of polymer as electrolyte, a new class of liquid-type polymer electrolyte was synthesized and investigated. To date this type of polymer electrolytre has not been extensively studied. This is due to the unavailability of liquid polymer for significance application. In this study, liquid poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) electrolyte was synthesized using the simplest free radical polymerization technique using benzoyl peroxide as the initiator. It was found that this liquid PMMA oligomer has potential as electrolyte in proton battery when doped with small volume of various molarity of hydrochloric acid (HCl) in which the highest ionic conductivity achieved was 10-7 S/cm at room temperature. The properties of this liquid PMMA oligomer were further investigated using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR).