Comparative Studies on Crystalline and Amorphous Vinylidene Fluoride Based Fibrous Polymer Electrolytes for Sodium-Ion Batteries

Abstract

In the present work, electrospun poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and poly (vinylidene fluoride-co hexafluropropylene) (P(VdF-co-HFP)) fibrous membranes have been compared. Porous homo and copolymer fiber-based membranes with an interconnected structure, high porosity, large electrolyte uptake were prepared by an electrospinning route. The effect of crystallinity in terms of X-ray diffraction (XRD) was investigated for the fibrous polymer membranes (FPMs). The surface morphology of the FPMs is evaluated by field emission scanning electronmicroscopy (FESEM). The FPMswere soaked in 1MNaClO<inf>4</inf>-ethylene carbonate (EC)/diethyl carbonate (DEC) (1:1, vol%) solution to form fibrous polymer electrolytes (FPEs). The ionic conductivity of copolymer showed 1.126 mS cm−1 under ambient temperature (at 28 °C) higher than the homopolymer (0.79 mS cm−1) because of HFP unit. The electrochemical stability window of the copolymer membrane also enhanced and stable up to 4.9 V versus Na+/Na suitable for high voltage sodium rechargeable batteries. When tested with Na<inf>066</inf>Fe<inf>0.5</inf>Mn<inf>05</inf>O<inf>2</inf> as cathode and Na metal as an anode, the cycle performance significantly improved for the copolymer. © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021.