Influence of Fe2O3 Nanofiller Shape on the Conductivity and Thermal Properties of Solid Polymer Electrolytes: Nanorods versus Nanospheres

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• 作者：Nhu Suong T. Do ; Dean M. Schaetzl ; Barnali Dey ; Alan C. Seabaugh ; Susan K. Fullerton-Shirey
• 刊名：The Journal of Physical Chemistry C
• 出版年：2012
• 出版时间：October 11, 2012
• 年：2012
• 卷：116
• 期：40
• 页码：21216-21223
• 全文大小：439K
• 年卷期：v.116,no.40(October 11, 2012)
• ISSN：1932-7455

文摘

The influence of nanofiller shape on the ionic conductivity and thermal properties of solid polymer electrolytes is investigated. Electrolytes of polyethylene oxide (PEO) and LiClO₄ filled with 1鈥?0 wt % spherical Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles and 0.5鈥?0 wt % Fe₂O₃ nanorods are measured at an ether oxygen to Li ratio of 10:1. Nanorods improve the ionic conductivity to a similar extent as spherical nanoparticles, except at concentrations 10鈥?0 times lower. The maximum conductivity improvement occurs at a spherical metal oxide nanoparticle loading of 10 wt %; however, an equivalent nanorod loading decreases the conductivity below that of the unfilled electrolyte. This result suggests that the long-range morphology of the two nanocomposites differs widely, where high concentrations of nanorods will inhibit instead of enhance Li transport. The shape of the nanofiller also affects the crystallization rate and resulting crystal structure. Differential scanning calorimetry measurements show that samples containing nanorods crystallize faster than those containing spherical nanoparticles, and nanorods favor formation of the (PEO)₆:LiClO₄ crystal phase. Previous studies have shown that this channel-like structure is more conductive than the amorphous phase. If nanorods could be used to induce the formation and alignment of this conductive structure normal to the electrode surface, perhaps ionic conductivity could be further enhanced in nanofilled solid polymer electrolytes where the nanoscale structure is precisely controlled.