Thermal, Structural, Optical and Electrical Conductivity studies of pure and Mn2+ doped PVP films

Pure and Mn2+ ions doped (1 to 5 mol%) PVP polymer electrolytes were prepared by solution casting method by using double distilled water as a solvent. Thermogravimetric curves of the pure and Mn2+ doped polymer films show three distinct steps of weight loss. The Enhanced amorphous nature of PVP polymer film due to doping has been identified from X-ray diffraction analysis. SEM images appear the smoothest, uniform and homogenous surface, suggesting a good ordering structure. The optical band gaps of the films showed a decreasing trend with increasing dopant concentration. The FTIR spectra confirmed the complexation between the Mn2+ ions and the host polymer in terms of changes in intensity and certain bands position. The conductivity data, showed that 5 mol% Mn2+ doped PVP polymer electrolyte had shown maximum ionic conductivity of 3.21 × 10−8 S/cm at room temperature. From all the characterization results, 5mol% of Mn2+ ion-doped PVP polymer electrolyte exhibits better properties which are more suitable for fabricating solid-state batteries and other electrochemical devices.