Ionic conductivity of PVdF-based polymer gel electrolytes

Gel polymer electrolytes with polyvinylidenefluoride (PVdF) as the polymer, a ternary solvent mixture consisting of ethylene carbonate (EC), propylene carbonate (PC) and dimethylacetamide (DMA) as the solvent and different (ortho-, meta- and para-) hydroxy-substituted carboxylic acids, have been studied. The conductivity value has been found to depend upon the concentration of the acid and is higher for gel electrolytes containing ortho-acid than the meta- and para-acids. The conductivity of the order of 10−4 S/cm at 20 °C has been observed and the conductivity of gel electrolytes is found to be higher than that of the corresponding liquid electrolytes at all acid concentrations and for all the three acids studied.