A general formula for ion concentration-dependent electrical conductivities in polymer electrolytes

Abstract

Problem statement: The aim of this study is to develop a model for describing the effect of ion concentration on the electrical conductivity of polymer electrolytes by considering two mechanisms simultaneously: Enhancements of ion concentration and amorphous phase. Approach: The problems based on new observations in polymer electrolyte when ion concentration in the polymer electrolytes was increased, both the fraction of amorphous phase and the charge carriers increase simultaneously. The model was based on the assumption when ions were inserted into the polymer host, there was an optimum distance between ions at which the ions move easily throughout the polymer. The average distance between ions in the polymer depends on the ion concentration. And we also considered the effect of ion concentration on the amorphous phase in the polymer. Results: We inspected the validity of the model by comparing the model predictions with various experimental data. The new analytical expressions for the electrical conductivity dependent of ion concentration was developed by considering two mechanisms simultaneously in polymer electrolytes, i.e., enhancement of the carries concentration and amorphous phase fraction. Interestingly, most of fitting parameters were not arbitrarily selected, but were derived from the appropriate experimental data. Conclusion: The model can be used to explain the conductivity behavior of other polymer electrolyte systems by selecting appropriately less number of parameters. This model result is fully supported by available experimental data. © 2012 Science Publications.