Electrical conductivity studies on the plasticised PEO–DBP–CdX (X=Cl; SO4) polymer electrolytes

Polymer electrolytes in the ternary PEO–CdSO4–DBP and PEO–CdCl2–DBP systems have been synthesized using solution casting technique. The resulting polymer electrolyte films are translucent, bubble-free and mechanically flexible. The ternary polymers have been characterized using FTIR spectroscopy, optical microscopy, SEM and DSC techniques. The electrical conductivity of PEO–CdSO4–DBP and PEO–CdCl2–DBP systems at room temperature are at least 10 times higher compared to the corresponding nonplasticized binary systems. The room temperature conductivity changes by an order of 10−9 S cm−1 for nonplasticized PEO–CdSO4 to 1.45×10−8 S cm−1 with 48.22 wt.% DBP. For PEO–CdCl2 system, room temperature conductivity changes from an order of 10−9–2.06×10−8 S cm−1 with 42.58 wt.% DBP. The conductivity is found to depend on the concentration of the DBP.