Electrochemical behaviors of polymer composite electrolytes containing functionalized nanosize clays

Functionalized nanosize clay effect on the poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)-based polymer composite electrolytes (PCE) were prepared and studied. In order to understand the effects of organic- functionalized montmorillonite (OMMT) on the ionic conductivity, microstructure and electrochemical property were investigated. XRD results revealed that the PCE containing MMT-20A showed inter- layer spacing length, 2.55 nm, while the PCE containing Na-MMT showed the value, 1.16 nm. By changing the OMMT species, the interlayer spacings were controlled. The XRD and thermal analysis results indicated that the PCE showed the reduced crystallinity by introduction of OMMT fillers. PCE containing MMT-20A showed the triple higher conductivity, 6.1 *10 ^-4 S/cm, than PCE containing Na-MMT. This indicated that the improved ion conductivity was dependent on the reduced crystallinity that was correlated with the d-spacing of MMT.