Additives for Solid Polymer Electrolytes: The Layered Nanoparticles

The massive exploitation of modern technology results in increasing demand of energy of the entire world, which has urged extensive research and development in the areas of energy production from non-conventional resources, their storage and distribution. Electrolyte is one of the components in various electrochemical devices, like solar cells, fuel cells, rechargeable battery etc. Besides the conventional liquid electrolytes, polymer based electrolytes gain particular attention because of their solid nature, flexibility and ease of availability. For the last few decades, use of inorganic nanoparticles as additives is one of the most promising ways to improve the electrochemical performance of polymer electrolytes. The resulting nanocomposite polymer electrolytes can display enhanced conductivity, mechanical stability and improved interfacial stability towards electrode materials. This review highlights the recent research efforts given to the nanocomposites systems containing various layered transition metal hydroxides for making solid polymer electrolytes. Also various approaches adopted to understand the ion conduction mechanism of solid polymer electrolytes has also been discussed.