Influence of the NiO nanoparticles on the ionic conductivity of the agar-based electrolyte

Abstract

NiO nanoparticles with an average size of 15 nm were prepared by a simple, reproducible and low-cost controlled method, using nickel nitrate hexahydrate (Ni(NO 3 ) 2 ⋅6H 2 O). These nanoparticles were added to an agarbased polymer electrolyte formula, resulting, after reflux and solution casting, in a proton conducting membrane. The highest ionic conductivity values of 5.19×10-5 S cm -1 at room temperature and 3.32x10 -4 S cm -1 at 80 °C, were obtained for the sample with 50 wt. % of acetic acid and 0.25 g of NiO. Moreover, the samples showed 75 % of transparency in the visible region, a homogeneous surface and mainly amorphous structure. All the obtained results suggest that agarbased polymer electrolyte with NiO nanoparticles are promising candidates for electrochemical devices application.

Perspectives for solid biopolymer electrolytes in dye sensitized solar cell and battery application

“…The highest ionic conductivity value of agar-NiO system is 5.19 Â 10 À 5 S/cm at room temperature for the sample with 0.25 g of NiO. It was also stated that the increase in temperature up to 80°C promoted an increase in the ionic conductivity to 3.32 Â 10 -4 S cm À 1 [273]. Pectin-based membranes with different salts such as LiClO 4 , KCl, LiClO 4 -Ir(III) and KCl-Ir(III) contents are prepared and studied by Leones et al [274].…”

Preparation and characterization of sodium-ion conducting biopolymer electrolyte membrane based on agar-agar with sodium nitrite for primary Na-ion battery.

“…A series of agar-based electrolytes, including Agar/LiClO 4 , agar/lactic acid, agar/KClO 4 , and agar/acetic acid, exhibit a substantially lower conductivity on the order of 10 − 8 S cm − 1 [34]. The incorporation of NiO nanoparticles into agar-based polymer electrolytes led to the achievement of the highest conductivity, reaching 5.19 x 10 − 5 S cm − 1 at room temperature [35]. In a different study, a gel polymer electrolyte was developed using agar as the host polymer with dopants NH 4 I and I 2 , resulting in a maximum reported conductivity of 2.64 × 10 − 4 S cm − 1…”

“…Novel quantum dotsensitized solar cells developed with agar-based electrolytes exhibit a conductivity of 1.81 mS cm − 1 [9]. Agar molecules as an electrolyte additive improve Al-air battery performance and enhance fuel e ciency by 35.95% [10]. Additionally, agar-based polymer electrolytes incorporating various ionic liquids demonstrated a peak conductivity value of 2.35 x 10 − 5 S cm − 1 [11].…”

In vitro biocompatibility study of keratin/agar scaffold for tissue engineering

“…Furthermore, The XRD pattern of native keratin has a slight shoulder at around 2θ = 10° which point towards its crystalline properties [28]. The native agar gives highest intensity near 9325 at 2θ = 18.6° and slight shoulder at near 2θ = 13.5° [29]. The XRD spectrum of the scaffold gives eight major peaks at near 2θ = 6.6°, 7.1°, 22.4°, 24.8°, 29.5°, 32°, 35.8°, and 37.4°, which were not present in spectrum of native keratin and agar.…”