Ionic Conductivity and Conduction Mechanism of Biodegradable Dual Polysaccharides Blend Electrolytes

Polymer blending is a promising method used to enhance the ionic conductivity as well as improving mechanical strength and thermal stability of biodegradable dual polysaccharides blend electrolytes (PBEs). PBEs containing carboxymethyl cellulose-chitosan doped ammonium nitrate (AN) has been successfully prepared using the conventional solution casting technique. This research aimed to explore the ionic conductivity and conduction mechanism of prepared PBE films via electrical impedance spectroscopy and transference number measurement. The enhancement of ionic conductivity of PBE films is influenced by the addition of AN concentration. The maximum ionic conductivity is achieved at 40 wt.% AN of (1.03 ± 0.13) x 10-3 Scm-1. The ionic conductivity also is affected by temperature and followed the Arrhenius law where R2 ~ 1. The charge transport of the most conductive PBE film is identified to be dominated by ions. Jonscher's universal power law was employed to obtain the exponent n. Thus, revealed that the conduction mechanism in the most conductive SBE film can be represented by quantum mechanical tunneling model.