Conductivity studies of biopolymer electrolytes based on chitosan incorporated with NH4Br

A polymer electrolyte system based on chitosan complexed with ammonium bromide (NH 4 Br) salt was prepared by the solution cast technique. 30 wt% NH 4 Br added electrolyte gave a room temperature conductivity of (4.38 ± 1.26) × 10 −7 S cm −1 and increased to (2.15 ± 0.47) × 10 −4 S cm −1 with addition of 40 wt% glycerol. The dependence of the conductivity on temperature proves that both chitosan–NH 4 Br and chitosan–NH 4 Br–glycerol systems are Arrhenian. The activation energy ( E a ) value for 70 wt% chitosan–30 wt% NH 4 Br film is 0.31 eV and the E a value for 42 wt% chitosan–18 wt% NH 4 Br–40 wt% glycerol film is 0.20 eV. The carboxamide band at 1640 cm −1 and the amine band at 1549 cm −1 in the spectrum of pure chitosan film shifted to 1617 and 1516 cm −1 , respectively, in the spectrum of 70 wt% chitosan–30 wt% NH 4 Br film, indicating the occurrence of complexation between polymer and salt. The band at 1024 cm −1 in the pure chitosan film spectrum, which corresponds to the C–O stretching vibration, shifted to lower wavenumbers on addition of salt. A new band appears at 997 cm −1 on addition of 40 wt% glycerol.