Influence of CeO2 as dispersoid in blend poly(styrene‐co‐methylmethacrylate) as electrolyte for lithium‐ion battery

Poly(styrene‐co‐methylmethacrylate) P(S‐MMA) composite polymer electrolytes are having massive consideration for solid‐state electrochemical devices. There are numerous tactics implement to improve the ambient temperature ionic conductivity such as the addition of plasticizers, the inclusion of nanosize ceramic fillers and blending with the host polymer, which were carried out in this work. The effect of CeO2 on the P(S‐MMA)‐poly(vinylidene fluoride) (25:75 of 27 wt%)‐LiClO4 (8 wt%)‐ethylene carbonate:propylene carbonate (1:1 of 65 wt%) system prepared via a conventional solution casting technique. The as‐prepared polymer membranes were characterized using XRD, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetry and differential thermal analysis, SEM and AC impedance analyses. The composite polymer blend gel electrolyte system exhibits high ionic conductivity (2.51 × 10−2 S cm−1) with 6 wt% CeO2 nanofiller at ambient temperature. The conductivity enhancement is due to the presence of a rise in the amorphous content; it is in well concurrence with the XRD results. The optimum electrolyte was used to design the LiFePO4/composite gel polymer electrolyte/Li cell couple in a 2032 type coin cell. It possesses a discharge capacity of 151 mA h g−1 at 0.1 C. © 2021 Society of Industrial Chemistry. Fabrication and characterization of CeO2 based gel P(S‐MMA) blend polymer electrolyte Poly(styrene‐co‐methylmethacrylate) (P(S‐MMA))‐poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVdF)‐CeO2 (0, 3, 6, 9 and 12 wt%) were synthesized using the solution casting method. The ionic conductivity is 2.51 × 10−2 S cm−1 and the discharge capacity 151 mA hg‐1 for the 6 wt% CeO2 based electrolyte.