Processing and characterization of poly(ethylene oxide)/clay nanocomposites
Abstract In recent years, poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) has gained two very important applications namely: 1) as solid polymer electrolytes for use in battery, supercapacitor and fuel cell, 2) as a crystallizable switching segment for shape memory polymer (SMP) systems. The common problem for all the applications is linked with the poor mechanical properties of PEO. Hence nanoreinforcement of PEO has been investigated to develop PEO based materials suitable for various applications. PEO/clay nanocomposites have been made by using a solution intercalation method or a melt mixing route. The nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and evaluated for their rheological and dynamic mechanical properties, Since PEO is sensitive to thermo-oxidative degradations, the effect of processing temperature on rheological properties was also investigated. The detailed processing and characterization of PEO/clay nanocomposites will be discussed in the present paper.
Electrospun poly(ethylene oxide) nanofibrous composites with enhanced ionic conductivity as flexible solid polymer electrolytes