Subhrajit Konwar, Sirin Siyahjani Gultekin, Burak Gultekin, Sushant Kumar, Vinay Deep Punetha, Muhd Zu Azhan Bin Yahya, Markus Diantoro, Famiza Abdul Latif, Ikhwan Syafiq Mohd Noor, Pramod K. Singh
As synthetic and nonbiodegradable compounds are becoming a great challenge for the environment, developing polymer electrolytes using naturally occurring biodegradable polymers has drawn considerable research interest to replace traditional aqueous electrolytes and synthetic polymer-based polymer electrolytes. This study shows the development of a highly conducting ionic liquid (1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium iodide)-doped corn starch-based polymer electrolyte. A simple solution cast method is used to prepare biopolymer-based polymer electrolytes and characterized using different electrical, structural, and photoelectrochemical studies. Prepared polymer electrolytes are optimized based on ionic conductivity, which shows an ionic conductivity as high as 1.90 × 10-3 S/cm. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) confirms the complexation and composite nature, while X-ray diffraction (XRD) and polarized optical microscopy (POM) affirm the reduction of crystallinity in biopolymer electrolytes after doping with ionic liquid (IL). Thermal and photoelectrochemical studies further affirm that synthesized material is well stable above 200 °C and shows a wide electrochemical window of 3.91 V. The ionic transference number measurement (tion) confirms the predominance of ionic charge carriers in the present system. An electric double-layer capacitor (EDLC) and a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) were fabricated by using the highest conducting corn starch polymer electrolyte. The fabricated EDLC and DSSC delivered an average specific capacitance of 130 F/g and an efficiency of 1.73% in one sun condition, respectively. © 2024 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.
Center for Solar Cells & Renewable Energy, Department of Physics, Sharda University, Greater Noida, 201310, India; Department of Physics, Noida Institute of Engineering and Technology, Greater Noida, 201306, India; Faculty of Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering Canakkale, Onsekiz Mart University, Canakkale, 17100, Turkey; Solar Energy Institute, Ege University, Izmir, Bornova, 35100, Turkey; Centre of Excellence for Research, P P Savani University, NH 8, GETCO, Kosamba, 394125, India; Faculty of Defence Science and Technology, Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM), Kuala Lumpur, 57000, Malaysia; Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science, Universitas Negeri Malang, J1, Semarang 5, Malang, 65145, Indonesia; Faculty of Applied Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, 40450, Malaysia; Physics Division, Centre of Foundation Studies for Agricultural Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Selangor Darul Ehsan, Serdang, 43400, Malaysia
