Evaluation of a copper based gel polymer electrolyte and its performance in a primary cell

Portable electronic device industry is vastly developing over the last few years. As electrochemical batteries are suitable power sources for portable devices, demand for reliable and efficient batteries have also been increased. Since liquid electrolytes can cause several safety hazards due to leaking of the electrolyte, studies on gel polymer electrolytes have been able to attract many researchers. In this research work, a gel polymer electrolyte based primary cell was fabricated and discharge characteristics were studied. To prepare the gel polymer electrolyte, Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), Ethylene Carbonate (EC), Propylene Carbonate (PC) and Copper trifluoromethanesulfonate (Cu(CF₃SO₃)₂ - CuTf) were used. Gel polymer electrolyte sample which contained 22.5% PMMA: 30% EC: 30% PC: 17.5% CuTf showed a conductivity of 2.34 10^-3 S cm^-1 at room temperature with an appreciable mechanical stability. Primary cell with Cu and Mg electrodes showed 1.73 V open circuit potential, 131 µA h capacity and 1.13 mA short circuit current.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/sljp.v15i0.6686

Sri Lankan Journal of Physics, Vol. 15 (2014) 45-51