DOI: https://doi.org/10.55373/mjchem.v28i1.9

Keywords: Ammonium thiocyanate, electrical, ionic conductivity, intermolecular interaction

Abstract

The increasing interest in green energy storage materials for electrochemical devices, with the development of bio-polymer materials as electrolyte candidates, has attracted significant attention recently. It can offer many high-value opportunities, provided that lower costs can be achieved, while remaining environmentally friendly. The current study emphasizes on the electrical and conduction properties of the solid bio-polymer electrolytes (SBPE) based on alginate (Alg) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) blend doped with different weight percentages (wt.%) of ammonium thiocyanate (NH₄SCN). SBPE samples were successfully prepared via solution casting. The impedance studies demonstrate a reduction in Rb value with NH₄SCN content up to 35 wt.%, corresponding to the highest ionic conductivity at room temperature of 3.4 (10^-4 S cm^-1). In temperature-dependent studies, SBPE systems follow Arrhenius behaviour, where the regression value approaches 1. Optimum ionic conductivity has been examined to fit the complex dielectric permittivity, dielectric loss, and complex conductivity. The dielectric behavior of the Alginate-PVA-NH₄SCN SBPEs system was measured using complex permittivity and complex electrical modulus. This also shows non-Debye behavior, where no single relaxation was found in the present SBPE system. The finding suggests the great potential of Alg-PVA-NH₄SCN SBPEs as electrolytes for practical applications, such as proton batteries and supercapacitors.