Improved Conductivity in Gellan Gum and Montmorillonite Nanocomposites Electrolytes

Nanocomposite polymer electrolytes (NPEs) were obtained using gellan gum (GG) and 1 to 40 wt.% of montmorillonite (Na⁺SYN-1) clay. The NPEs were crosslinked with formaldehyde, plasticized with glycerol, and contained LiClO₄. The samples were characterized by impedance spectroscopy, thermal analyses (TGA and DSC), UV-vis transmittance and reflectance, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and continuous-wave electron paramagnetic resonance (CW-EPR). The NPEs of GG and 40 wt.% LiClO₄ showed the highest conductivity of 2.14 × 10^-6 and 3.10 × 10^-4 S/cm at 30 and 80 °C, respectively. The samples with 10 wt.% Na⁺SYN-1 had a conductivity of 1.86 × 10^-5 and 3.74 × 10^-4 S/cm at 30 and 80 °C, respectively. TGA analyses revealed that the samples are thermally stable up to 190 °C and this did not change with clay addition. The transparency of the samples decreased with the increase in the clay content and at the same time their reflectance increased. Finally, CW-EPR was performed to identify the coordination environment of Cu²⁺ ions in the GG NPEs. The samples doped with the lowest copper concentration exhibit the typical EPR spectra due to isolated Cu²⁺ ions in axially distorted sites. At high concentrations, the spectra become isotropic because of dipolar and exchange magnetic effects. In summary, GG/clay NPEs presented good ionic conductivity results, which qualifies them for electrochemical device applications.