Available online at ScienceDirect. Materials Today: Proceedings 3 (2016 ) NCAFM 2015

Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect Materials Today: Proceedings 3 (2016 ) 21 30 NCAFM 2015 Electrical Studies of Gel Polymer Electrolyte based on PAN for Electrochemical Cell Applications N. Krishna Jyothi a,b, K. K. Venkata Ratnam c, P. Narayana Murthy b, K. Vijaya Kumar a* a Solid State Ionics Research Laboratory, Department of Physics, K L University, Green Fields, Vaddeswaram-522502, A.P, India. b Department of Physics, Acharya Nagarjuna University, Nagarjuna Nagar-522510, A.P, India. c Department of Physics, MNIT Jaipur, J L N Marg, Jaipur 302017, Rajasthan, India. Abstract * Corresponding author e-mail: drvijayakambila@gmail.com Tel.: +91 8645 246948; Fax: +91 8645 247249 The free standing and dimensionally stable Gel Polymer electrolyte films of PAN: KI of varying compositions using se films are probed for their conductivities. The miscibility and the chemical rapport between PAN and KI are investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) methods. The conductivity is increased with the increase of KI concentration as well as temperature. The maximum conductivity at 30 o C is found to be 2.089 X 10-5 Scm -1 for PAN:KI (70:30) wt.% which is nine orders greater than that of pure PAN (<10-14 S cm -1 ). The conductivity-temperature dependence of these polymer electrolyte films obeys Arrhenius behaviour with activation energy ranging from 0.358 ev to 0.478 ev. The conducting carriers of charge transport in these polymer electrolyte films are identified by Wagner predominantly due to ions. The highest conducting sample is used to fabricate the battery with configuration K/ PAN+KI /I 2 +C+electrolyte and good discharge characteristics of battery are observed. 2016 2015Elsevier Published Ltd. by Elsevier All rights Ltd. reserved. Selection and and Peer-review under under responsibility responsibility of the of Committee the Committee Members Members of National of National Conference Conference National National Conference Conference on Emerging Trends of of Advanced Functional Materials Materials (NCAFM-2015). Keywords: Poly acrylonitrile (PAN); Solution Casting Technique; Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC); X-ray Diffraction (XRD); Electrical Properties. 2214-7853 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and Peer-review under responsibility of the Committee Members of National Conference on National Conference on Emerging Trends of Advanced Functional Materials (NCAFM-2015) doi:10.1016/j.matpr.2016.01.112

22 N. Krishna Jyothi et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings 3 ( 2016 ) 21 30 1. Introduction: Much research attention is paid in the recent past in developing Gel polymer electrolytes for solid state battery applications with good conductivity in view of the fact that solid battery has the advantage of having a higher energy density, solvent free condition, leak proof, easy processability, and light weight [1-5]. Several earlier studies in this field are focused upon Poly ethylene oxide (PEO), Poly vinyl alcohol (PVA), Poly vinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) and Poly acrylonitrile (PAN) complexed with NaI, NaClO 3, NaYF 4, KYF 4 and LiCF 3 SO 3 [6-12]. Although fewer investigations are conducted on potassium complexed polymer electrolytes, still no attention is paid on Potassium salt complexed PAN based polymer electrolytes. Despite the lithium batteries have more advantages of having a high energy density and rechargeability which make them commercially active, they suffer from several operational limitations, such as high cost, difficulty in handling in open atmospheric conditions due to high reactivity. So, the research has been focused on potassium salts due to their several advantages over lithium counterparts. Potassium is less expensive and much more abundant than lithium. The smoothness of this metal makes it easier for the components of the battery to have good contact to attain and keep contact with other components in the battery. Moreover, potassium is more moisture resistant than lithium [13]. Compared with the other polymers, PAN based electrolytes have been extensively studied because of their good chemical and flame resistance and electrochemical stability [14-17]. PAN is one of the most important fiber forming polymers and is widely used because of its high strength, abrasion resistance and good insect resistance [18]. It is used to produce a large variety of products including ultra filtration membranes, hollow fibers for reverse osmosis, fibers for textiles, oxidized flame retardant fibers like PANOX and carbon fiber. But the conductivity of pristine PAN is less than 10-14 S cm -1 and this static problem restricts its further applications. PAN is usually synthesized using free radical polymerization. Generally it forms copolymers with acrylonitrile, methyl acrylate, acrylonitrile and methyl methacrylate. PAN has a glass transition point of about 107 o C and melting point of about 319 o C and it decomposes also at this temperature [19]. To enhance the conductivity of polymer electrolytes, several techniques are suggested in the literature, including the use of blend polymers, addition of a ceramic filler, plasticizers and radiation. In this work, two plasticizing solvents EC and DMF are chosen in 1:1 ratio as solvents. EC has high dielectric constant and low viscosity which can weaken the columbic force between cation and anion of the salt and results in salt dissociation. Further, plasticizers decrease the glass transition temperature of the polymer electrolyte and thus, enhance the segmental motion of the polymer backbone and create free volume. Therefore, the ions can migrate easily through the void, resulting in ionic conductivity enhancement [20]. Keeping all these views in mind, in the present work, PAN based Potassium Iodide (KI) complexed gel polymer electrolytes have been developed and their electrical properties have been studied. The following studies are conducted and reported: (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) (vii) XRD of different films FTIR spectra for different films Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) analysis Discharge characteristics

N. Krishna Jyothi et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings 3 ( 2016 ) 21 30 23 2. Experimental Section Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) (MW=1,50,000 g/mol) and Ethylene carbonate (EC) (Sigma Aldrich), Potassium iodide (KI) and Dimethyl formamide (DMF) (Merck) were used, as received, without further purification. Solution casting technique was used to prepare gel polymer electrolyte films. In this method, KI was first dissolved in the mixture of EC and DMF with continuous stirring at 60 o C for 12 hours. The polymer PAN was then added to this solution and the mixture was stirred for up to 36 hours to obtain a homogeneous solution. The solution was then poured into polypropylene petri dishes and evaporated slowly at room temperature under vacuum until the gel film was formed. The polymer electrolyte samples were then transferred into desiccators for further drying before the test. The films formed were mechanically stable, transparent and free standing with thickness range of 150 μm. and the diffraction patterns were recorded o and 90 o. FTIR absorption spectra were recorded with the help of the Perkin Elmer FTIR spectrometer (Spectrum II USA) in the wave number range of 450 4000 cm -1 with spectral resolution of 2 cm - 1.The glass transition temperature (T g ) and Melting temperature (T m ) of the gel polymer electrolyte films were determined using an Auto Q20 DSC, TA instruments at a heating rate of 10 o C/min under nitrogen atmosphere in the temperature range of 40 o C to 350 o C. For conductivity measurements, circular discs of diameter 2cm were cut from the films. A disc sample was sandwiched between a pair of silver electrodes and spring loaded into a sample holder of lab made conductivity setup [21]. Room temperature conductivities of films were measured by using HIOKI 3532-50 LCR Hitester in 50 samples, which were sandwiched between silver electrodes. Polarization current was measured with respect to time in response to an applied DC bias of 1.5V. Ionic transport number (t ion ) and electronic transport numbers (t ele ) were calculated using the graph of polarization current verses time. Potassium solid state battery was fabricated by sandwiching the salt complexed film as electrolyte between anode and cathode pellets with the arrangement {K (anode) /(PAN+KI) (polymer electrolyte) /(I 2 +C+electrolyte) (cathode)}. This entire assembly was finally covered in the sample holder. In this battery, potassium metal was used as the anode (negative electrode). For the preparation of cathode, an accurate mixture of iodine (I 2 ), graphite (C) and the electrolyte material in the wt.% of 5:5:1 respectively was obtained by mechanical grinding. This was then pressed in the form of pellet at a pressure of 200 MPa after proper mixing of constituents. The battery parameters, short circuit current, open circuit voltage, current density, energy density, power density and discharge time were evaluated. 3. Results and Discussion 3.1.1. XRD analysis X-ray diffraction measurements are performed on PSN based KI complexed films to examine the crystallinity and the amorphous nature of the films. Fig. 1 is a comparative study of the XRD patterns of pure PAN, PAN doped with different KI concentration regions. The comparative study exhibits that the intensity of the crystalline peak of PAN decreases gradually with the addition of KI salt (up to 30 wt%) to the polymer, signifying a decrease in the degree of crystallinity of the electrolyte films. This may be due to disturbance in the semi-crystalline structure of the film due to the addition of KI salt. The XRD pattern of the pure PAN film shows a crystalline peak o corresponding to orthorhombic PAN (110) reflection [22] and it indicates the semi crystalline structure

24 N. Krishna Jyothi et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings 3 ( 2016 ) 21 30 with the presence of mixed crystalline and amorphous phases. Hodge et al. studied a correlation between the intensity of the peak and the degree of crystallinity [23]. While KI salt dissolves in the PAN, the interaction between PAN and KI leads in the reduction of the intermolecular interaction among the PAN polymer chains which decreases the crystalline phases and therefore increases the amorphous regions. The sharp crystalline peaks corresponding to KI sal o, 35.8 o, 56.6 o, 64.4 o, 76.1 o and 80.1 o (PCPDF File No. 780750) which are not present in the polymer electrolyte films upto 30 wt.% salt. This indicates the complete dissolution of salt in the polymer matrix and no excess salt present in the polymer [24]. So, 70PAN:30KI gel polymer electrolyte film has more amorphous nature. The XRD pattern of 60PAN:40KI electrolyte film shows some crystalline peaks of KI. This indicates the existence of some undissolved salt in this composition which raises the crystalline nature of the polymer electrolyte at higher concentration level of electrolyte films is also calculated using XRD patterns by the following relation (1) [25]: x 100 (1) where S is the sum of the areas of all the crystalline peaks and is the total area under the diffractogram. The degree of crystallinity of the pure PAN is found to be 36%. For the composite films of PAN:KI, the degree of crystallinity is found to decrease to 29%, 24% and 19% for films of composition (90:10), (80:20) and (70:30) films respectively but for (60:40) film, the crystallinity is increased to 24%. From this data it is confirmed that the maximum amorphousness is in the 70:30 composite film. Fig. 1: X-ray diffraction patterns of pure PAN, pure KI salt and PAN:KI complexed filmsfor different wt% of KI Fig.2: FTIR spectra of pure PAN, PAN complexed films and pure KI 3.2 FTIR Studies FTIR is an effective tool to analyse about the local structural changes in polymers. From the vibrtional frequencies, the nature of bonding and different functional groups in the polymer complex can be identified [26]. Fig. 2 represents the FTIR spectra of PAN, PAN:KI films in different wt.% of PAN & KI and pure KI in the range between 450 and 4000 cm -1. From the spectra, the absorption band observed at 2243 cm -1, can be assigned to the most [27]. The absorption band doublet frequencies observed at 1775 cm -1 and 1800 cm -1 and C=O peaks are not changed with the addition of salt, but intensities have been decreased comparing with that of pure PAN. It indicates that only a weak physical electrostatic interaction exists between the K + [28].

N. Krishna Jyothi et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings 3 ( 2016 ) 21 30 25 The wave numbers assigned for different chemical bonds in pure PAN and complexed polymer electrolytes are given in Table 1. The absorption bands at 2939 cm -1, 1251 cm -1, 1361 cm -1, 1455 cm -1, are assigned to C-H stretching, C-H wagging, C-H partial bending, C-H bending of pure PAN. It is observed from the spectra that there are no appreciable changes in the spectral position of these bands. The band at 865 cm -1 is assigned to C-H rocking of pure PAN. The position of this peak has been shifted to the higher wavelength side i.e. 878 cm -1 in the mixed films. The absorption peak at 1666 cm -1 can be assigned to C=C stretching in pure PAN. The position of this peak is shifted to 1627 cm -1 for complexed polymer electrolyte systems. The intensities of these peaks have been decreased and also broadened with the addition of salt. It indicates that the complexation has occurred between PAN and KI. Table 1: Vibrational peaks and assignments of pure PAN, PAN:KI (90:10, 80:20, 70:30, 60:40) complexed polymer electrolyte films 3.3 DSC Studies PAN:KI 90:10 PAN:KI 80:20 PAN:KI 70:30 PAN:KI 60:40 Assignment Pure PAN 2243 2243 2243 2243 2243 1666 1627 1627 1632 1626 C=C stretching in PAN 2939 2939 2939 2939 2939 C-H stretching 1455 1454 1454 1454 1454 C-H bending 1361 1361 1361 1360 1357 C-H partial bending 1966 1993 1993 2015 2017 C-H asymmetric stretching 865 878 878 879 878 C-H rocking 1251 1249 1249 1249 1250 C-N stretching in PAN 1775 & 1801 1775 & 1800 1775 & 1800 1775 & 1800 1775 & 1800 1041 1046 1046 1045 1045 C-O stretching 1075 1075 1077 1078 1078 C-C stretching C=O stretching in EC & DMF Thermal properties like glass transition temperature and melting temperature of polymer electrolytes are important parameters to assure adequate performance when it is operated at high temperatures and when safety is of concern. Fig. 3 shows the Differential scanning calorimetric thermograms of different compositions of gel polymer electrolytes in the temperature range of 40 o C to 350 o C. The glass transition temperature (T g ) and melting temperature (T m ) of pure PAN are 107 o C and 317 o C [29-30]. The variations in the glass transition temperature and melting temperatures are observed with variation of salt content to the pure PAN. From the spectra, low intensity endothermic peak is observed around 71 o C to 81 o C corresponding to the glass transition temperature and high intensity exothermic peak is observed around 256 o C to 281 o C corresponding to the melting temperature of the polymer electrolytes. It indicates that the miscibility of the polymer PAN, salt KI and plasticizers EC and DMF as the films exhibition of only single T g and single T m values. The measured values of glass transition temperature and melting temperatures are given in Table 2. Table 2: Glass transition temperature (T g) and melting temperature (T m) of pure PAN, PAN+DMF, PAN+EC+DMF and complexed polymer electrolytes (PAN+KI+EC+DMF). Sample T g ( o C) T m ( o C) Pure PAN 107 317 90PAN+10KI+EC+DMF 81 281 80PAN+20KI+EC+DMF 79 276 70PAN+30KI+EC+DMF 71 270 60PAN+40KI+EC+DMF 73 256 From the DSC spectra, the T g decreases from 81 o C to 71 o C gradually with salt concentrations varying

26 N. Krishna Jyothi et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings 3 ( 2016 ) 21 30 from 10 wt% to 30 wt%, but T g increases from 71 o C to 73 o C for 40 wt% KI concentration film, which may be due to the presence of some undissociated salt in the polymer matrix PAN. Similarly the T m decreases from 281 o C to 256 o C gradually with salt concentrations varying from 10 wt% to 40 wt% due to the interaction between PAN and KI. It is also observed that the melting temperature peaks intensity decreases and is broadened with salt concentrations from 10 wt% to 40 wt%. Therefore the addition of KI decreases the T g and T m values [31-32]. The decrease in T g signifies the increase in the amorphous nature of polymer electrolytes. This may be due to the plasticization effect of the electrolyte. And the addition of plasticizers and salt is found to enhance the segmental motion of the polymer electrolyte. Such segmental motion produces empty spaces, which enables the easy flow of ions in the material in the presence of electric field. The polymer electrolyte 70PAN:30KI exhibits low T g value indicating more amorphous nature and more flexibility compared with other polymer electrolytes and this inference is also confirmed from XRD studies. Fig. 3: DSC thermograms for PAN complexed films for different wt% of KI from 40 o C to 350 o C70PAN:30KI Fig. 4: Cole-Cole plot for the highest conducting polymer electrolyte film at 303K 3.4 Conductivity Studies The Cole-Cole plot (Nyquist plot) for the highest conducting polymer electrolyte film 70PAN:30KI at room temperature (303K) is shown in Fig.4. The disappearance of high frequency semi-circular portion in this plot indicates that the conductivity is mainly due to the ionic conduction [33]. The conductivity value of this polymer complex film is calculated from the bulk resistance (R b ) obtained from the intercept of the straight line on the real axis, area of the film (A) and thickness of the film (t), using the expression (2). b A (2) The conductivity values of different complexes at room temperature (303K) and at 373K are shown in Table 3. The highest conductivity at ambient temperature is found to be 2.089 x 10-5 S cm -1 for PAN:KI (70:30) wt.%. The effect of KI salt concentration on ionic conductivity of the PAN based polymer electrolyte films at different temperatures is shown in Fig. 5. The conductivity of pure PAN is about 10-14 S cm -1 at room temperature [34]. When 30 wt.% of KI is added, the ionic conductivity is observed to increase gradually up to 2.089 X 10-5 Scm - 1. And beyond 30 wt.%, the conductivity is decreased. With KI salt concentrations from 10 to 30 wt.%, the increase in conductivity is assigned to increase more mobile ions. Plasticizing solvent EC also helps to increase number of charge carriers by larger dissolution of the electrolyte salt resulting in increased conductivity. In this concentration range, the rate of ion dissociation may be greater than the rate of ion association. But, if the concentration of KI salt is increased above 30 wt.%, the conductivity is decreased, which may be due to the blocking of path for moving charges by the excess of salt deposited in the paths and further, at higher concentration, there will be aggregation of ions causing ions less facile to move when potential is applied [35]. Therefore the number of mobile ions reaching the respective electrodes is decreased and this leads to the fall in conductivity. At high salt concentrations, the

N. Krishna Jyothi et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings 3 ( 2016 ) 21 30 27 mobility of the ions can decrease due to the raise in salt concentration, which will raise the viscosity of the solution [36]. Table 3: Conductivity, activation energies and transference numbers of polymer electrolyte films. Polymer Electrolyte Conductivity (S cm -1 ) Activation Transference Number at 303K at 373K energy (ev) t ion t ele PAN+KI (90:10) 1.348x10-9 0.525x10-7 0.47 0.915 0.084 PAN+KI (80:20) 0.853x10-7 0.199x10-5 0.4 0.985 0.014 PAN+KI (70:30) 2.089x10-5 2.57x10-4 0.35 0.99 0.01 PAN+KI (60:40) 0.134x10-5 2.04x10-5 0.37 0.976 0.023 The variation of logarithm of ionic conductivity with inverse of absolute temperature for various concentrations of KI in PAN over a temperature range of 303-373 K, is presented in Fig. 6. From the graph, it is observed that the conductivity of the polymer electrolytes increases linearly with increasing temperature for all polymer electrolytes and does not show any abrupt jump with temperature. It indicates that there is no phase transition in PAN matrix due to the addition of KI in the temperature range studied [37-38]. The increase in conductivity with temperature may be due to the decrease in viscosity, and hence, increase in chain flexibility [39]. This can also be explained from the view point of the free volume model and hopping of charge carriers between localized sites [40-41]. Fig. 5: Ionic conductivity of polymer electrolyte films as a function of KI concentration at different temperatures electrolyte films at different weight percent ratios of KI The polymer PAN and plasticizers EC and DMF dissociates the KI into K + ions and I - ions under the influence of applied electric field due to their polarity nature. The K + ions hop between the preferred nitrogen sites of PAN and oxygen sites of EC and DMF. In addition to this the increasing temperature enhances the vibrational energy of a segment which is sufficient to push against the hydrostatic pressure imposed by its neighbouring atoms and creates a small amount of space surrounding its own volume in which vibrational motion can occur [32]. Therefore, the ions and polymer segments can move into the free volume around the polymer chain causing the mobility of ions and polymer segments which will in turn enhance the ionic conductivity [42]. The activation energy values have been calculated from Fig. 6, using the Arrhenius relation (3), o exp (-E a /kt) (3) o = the pre-exponential factor, E a = the activation energy, k = the Boltzmann constant and T= the absolute temperature. The activation energy values of the polymer electrolytes are given in Table 3. From Table 3, it is observed that as the KI concentration increases, the activation energy value decreases upto the composition 70PAN:30KI and again increases after that. It means that the highest conducting sample gives the lowest activation energy. It may be due to the amorphous nature of the polymer electrolyte which makes easy the ionic motion in the

28 N. Krishna Jyothi et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings 3 ( 2016 ) 21 30 polymer. 3.5 Transport Properties For estimating the nature of types responsible for conductivity in the present electrolyte system, the lying a constant DC potential of 1.5 V across the cell in the configuration (Ag/PAN+KI/Ag) at room temperature. The polarization current versus time plot at room temperature is obtained, which is shown in Fig. 7. From figure, in the beginning of polarization the initial current rise up only to decay immediately and asymptotically approaches steady state after a long time of polarization, before stabilizing at a much lower level. The transference numbers (t ion, t ele ) are calculated using the equations (4) and (5), t ion = 1-I f /I i (4) t ele = I f /I i (5) where I i is the initial current and I f is the final current. The calculated transference values are given in Table 3. It is observed from the Table that the ionic transport number of present polymer electrolyte systems is in the range of 0.915 to 0.99 and electronic transport number is in the range of 0.084 to 0.01. It indicates that the charge transport in these polymer electrolyte systems is predominantly ionic with a negligible contribution from electrons. The ionic transport number increases with the increase of salt concentration. It is due to the enrichment of ionic concentration which results in high initial current. The ionic transport number reached a high value of 0.99 for 70PAN:30KI polymer electrolyte system, which may be sufficient to meet the requirements of solid state electrochemical cells [43-45]. Fig. 7: Transference number measurements of PAN: KI polymer electrolyte films with different wt. % ratios at room temperature Fig. 8: Discharge characteristics of 70PAN:30KI polymer electrolyte 3.6 Discharge Characteristics of an Electrochemical cell The discharge characteristics of electrochemical cells with the configuration (K/electrolyte/I 2 +C+electrolyte) for shown in Fig. 8. The half-cell reactions for this configuration can be written as At the anode: K K + + e - and at the cathode: I 2 + 2 e - 2I - The overall reaction can be written as 2K + I 2 2KI As shown in figure, during discharge, the cell voltage decreases initially and then remains constant for a particular duration (time of stable performance of the cell) and after which, voltage declines. The initial sharp

N. Krishna Jyothi et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings 3 ( 2016 ) 21 30 29 decrease in the voltage may be due to the activation polarization and/or to the formation of thin layer on potassium at electrode-electrolyte interface [46]. The cell parameters such as open circuit voltage (OCV), short circuit current (SCC), current density, energy density, power density, plateau region (the region in which cell voltage remains constant) and discharge capacity etc., have been evaluated for the above electrochemical cell and the obtained data are shown in Table 4. From table, it is clear that the cell with the composition 70PAN:30KI exhibits better performance and stability than PEO+KYF 4, PVP+KYF 4 and PEO+KBrO 3 complexed polymer electrolyte systems [13,47]. Hence the cell developed in this research work, offers interesting alternatives for room temperature solidstate batteries. Table 4: Cell parameters of PAN:KI polymer electrolyte Solid State Battery 4. Conclusions Cell Parameters K/ PAN:KI (70:30) /(I 2+C+electrolyte) Open circuit voltage 2.54 V Short circuit current 1.2 ma Effective area of the cell 1.32 cm 2 Weight of the cell 1.5 g Discharge time for plateau region 101 h Current density 0.909 ma cm -2 Power density 2.032 W kg -1 Polyacrylonitrile based Potassium iodide complexed polymer electrolyte films are prepared by using solution casting technique. These films are characterized using XRD, FTIR and DSC techniques. The XRD and FTIR spectral studies have proved that the complexation of PAN with KI. FTIR studies have confirmed that only a weak physical electrostatic interactions exist between the K + the addition of plasticizers and KI increase the flexibility of the polymer electrolytes due to decrease in T g and T m values of polymer electrolytes. In the present study the polymer electrolyte system 70PAN:30KI has been found to have more ionic conductivity. The ionic conductivity increases with increase in the temperature as well as in the KI concentration. The temperature dependence of ionic conductivity has exhibited an Arrhenius type thermally activated process. The charge transport in these polymer electrolyte systems is predominantly ionic with a negligible contribution from elect /I 2 be better than the existing Potassium battery results. Acknowledgements One of the authors N Krishna Jyothi is very much thankful to Department of Science and Technology (DST), -WOS (A) program (File No.: SR/WOS-A/PS-52/2011). The authors thank Er. Koneru Satyanarayana, President and Prof. Dr. K. Ravindhranath, Professor in Dept. of Chemistry, for their constant support and encouragement. References [1] P. Anji Reddy and Ranveer Kumar, Intern. J. Polym. Mater. 62 (2012) 76-80. [2] J.R. MacCallum and C.A. Vincent (Eds.) Polym. Electro. Rev. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1987. [3] F. Croce, G.B. Appetecchi, L. Persi, B. Scrosati, Nat. 394 (1998) 456-458. [4] M.B. Armand, Solid State Ionics, 9-10 (1983) 745-754. [5] C. Berthier, W. Gorecki, M. Miner, M.B. Armand, J.M. Chabagno and P. Rigaud, Solid State Ionics, 11 (1983) 91-95.

30 N. Krishna Jyothi et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings 3 ( 2016 ) 21 30 [6] B.L. Papke, M.A. Ratner and D.F. Shriver, J. Phys. and Chem. of Solids 42 (1981) 493-500. [7] P. Balaji Bhargav, B.A. Sarada, A.K. Sharma and V.V.R.N. Rao, J. Macromol. Sci., Part A: Pure and Appl. Chem. 47 (2009) 131-137. [8] C.V. Subba Rao, M. Ravi, V. Raja, P. Balaji Bhargav, A.K. Sharma, V.V.R.N. Rao, Iran. Polym. J. 21 (2012) 531-536. [9] R. Sathiyamoorthi, R. Chandrasekaran, S. Selladurai, T. Vasudevan, Ionics 9 (2003)404-410. [10] R. Chandra Sekaran, S. Selladurai, J. Solid State Electrochemistry 5 (2001) 355-361. [11] S. Sreepathi Rao, M. Jaipal Reddy, E. Laxmi Narsaiah, U.V. Subba Rao,Mater. Sci. and Eng.: B 33 (1995) 173-177. [12] Hae-Kwon Yoon, Won-Sub Chung, Nam-Ju Jo, Electrochimica Acta 50 (2004) 289-293. [13] T. Sreekanth, M. Jaipal Reddy, U.V. Subba Rao, J. Power Sources 93 (2001) 268-272. [14] B. Huang, Z. Wang, G. Li, H. Huang, R. Xue, L. Chen, F. Wang, Solid State Ionics 85 (1996) 79-84. [15] M. Patel, K.G. Chandrappa, A.J. Bhattacharya, Electrochimica Acta 54 (2008) 209-215. [16] S.S. Sekhon, N. Arora, S.A. Agnihotry, Solid State Ionics 136 137 (2000) 1201-1204. [17] A. Subramania, N.T. Kalyana Sundaram, G. Vijaya Kumar, J. Power Sources 153 (2006) 177-182. [18] J.Y. Song, Y.Y. Wang and C.C. Wan, J. Power Sources 77 (1999) 183-197. [19] K.S. Sidhu, S.S. Sekhon, S.A. Hashmi, S. Chandra, Eur. Polym. J. 29 (1993) 779-782. [20] A. Ahmad, M.Y.A. Rahman, S.P. Low and H. Hamzah, Intern. Sch. Res. Netw. 2011 (2011) 1-7. [21] K. Vijaya Kumar, G. Suneeta Sundari, J. Eng. Sci. and Technol.5 (2010) 130-139. [22] S. Rajendran, R. Kannan, O. Mahendran, Mate. Lett. 48 (2001) 331-335. [23] R.M. Hodge, G.H. Edward, G.P. Simon, Polymer 37 (1996) 1371-1376. [24] S. Rajendran, O. Mahendran, Ionics 7 (2001) 463-468. [25] A. Kumar, D. Sakia, F. Singh, D.K. Avasthi, Solid State Ionics 176 (2005) 1585-1590. [26] C.W. Kuo, C.W. Huang, B.K. Chen, W.B. Li, P.R. Chen, T.H. Ho, C.G. Tseng, T.Y. Wu, Intern. J. Electrochemical Sci. 8 (2013) 3834-3850. [27] S. Rajendran, T. Mahalingam, R. Kannan, Solid State Ionics 130 (2000) 143-148. [28] N. Krishna Jyothi, K. Vijaya Kumar, G. Sunita Sundari and P. Narayana Murthy, Indian J. Phys, accepted for Publication. [29] C. Wang, Q. Liu, Q. Cao, Q. Meng, L. Yang, Solid State Ionics 53-56 (1992) 1106-1110. [30] B.K. Choi, Y.W. Kim, H.K. Shin, Electrochimica Acta, 45 (2000) 1371-1374. [31] M. Ravi, Y. Pavani, K. Kiran Kumar, S. Bhavani, A.K. Sharma, V.V.R. Narasimha Rao, Mater. Chem. and Phy. 130 (2011) 442-448. [32] M.M.E. Jacob, S.R.S. Prabaharan and S. Radhakrishna Solid State Ionics 104 (1997)267-276. [33] Wei Pan, Hantao Zou, Bull. Mater. Sci. 31 (2008) 807-811. [34] S.R. Majid, A.K. Arof, Mol. Cryst. Liq. Cryst. 484 (2008) 117-126. [35] A. Chagnes, H. Allouchi, B. Carre, G. Odou, P. Willmann, D. Lemordant, J. Applied Electrochemistry 33 (2003) 589-595. [36] M.B. Armand, J.M. Chabagno, M.J. Duclot in P. Vashishta, L.N. Mundy, G. Shenoy (Eds.), Fast Ion Transport in Solids North Holland, Amsterdam (1979) p.131. [37] M. Hema, S. Selvasekarapandian, D. Arunkumar, A. Sakunthala, H. Nithya, J. Non-Cryst. Solids 355 (2009) 84-90. [38] S. Ramesh, A.H. Yahana, A.K. Arof Solid State Ionics 152 (2002) 291-294. [39] T. Miyamoto, K. Shibayama, J. Applied Phy. 44 (1973) 5372-5376. [40] J.R. Chetia, M. Maullick, A. Dutla, N.N. Dass, Mater. Sci. Eng. B 107 (2004) 134-138. [41] D.F. Shriver, M.A. Ratner, Chem. Rev. 88 (1988) 109-124. [42] M. Jaipal Reddy, T. Sreekanth, M. Chandrasekhar, U.V. Subba Rao, J. Mate. Sci. 35 (2000) 2841-2845. [43] V.M. Mohan, P.B. Bhargav, V. Raja, A.K. Sharma, V.V.R. Narasimha Rao, Soft Materials 5 (2007) 33-46. [44] C.S. Ramya, T. Savitha, S. Selvasekarapandian, G. Hiran Kumar, Ionics 11 (2005) 436-441. [45] V.M. Mohan, V. Raja, A.K. Sharma, V.V.R. Narasimha Rao, Ionics 12 (2006) 219-226. [46] Ch.V. Subba Reddy, A.K. Sharma, V.V.R. Narasimha Rao, Journal of Power Sources, 111 (2002) 357-360. [47] E. Laxmi Narsaiah, M. Jaipal Reddy, U.V. Subba Rao, J. Power Sources 55 (1995) 255-257.