Novel blend polymer electrolyte membrane as potential separator for lithium ion battery

In this paper, a Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVdF), Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), and Polystyrene (PS) blend nanofiber electrolyte membrane was prepared by using the electrospinning method. In which the ratio of PMMA and PS is different. As the produced electrospun nanofibers, the polymer electrolyte membranes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy for morphology, FTIR for miscibility, XRD, DSC and TGA for crystallinity and thermal properties. The blended nanofibrous membrane of PVdF/PMMA/PS showed higher electrolyte uptake, higher porosity, and higher ionic conductivity when compared to pure PVdF. The ionic conductivity of the polymer blend electrolyte membrane is 2.50x10−2 S cm-1. Charge-discharge curves of the first cycle of mixing the polymer electrolyte with PVdF: PMMA: PS (80:15:05) at room temperature using the cell above gave an initial discharge capacity of 163 mAhg−1. The PVdF: PMMA: PS (80:15:05) mixed polymer electrolyte membrane maintained a discharge capacity of 160mAhg-1 after 50 cycles. This indicates good retention of discharge capacity even after 50 cycles. PVdF/PMMA/PS blended nanofiber polymer electrolyte membranes have proven to be good separators for lithium-ion battery applications.