Chitosan based film electrolytes doped oleic acid : preparation and electrical study

Abstract

A polymer electrolyte is presented in this work. 1 g chitosan was dissolved in 100 ml of 1 % acetic acid solution to make the chitosan solution. The solution was then mixed with oleic acid. Thi$ chitosan acetate - oleic acid was then made into thin film by the solution cast technique. Five films were prepared each containing I g chitosan in 100 ml of 1% acetic acid solution and 10 wt.%, 20 wt.%, 30 wt.%, 40 wt.% and 50 wt.% of oleic acid (C 18H3402) respectively. The conductivity of the samples were measured from ambient to elevated temperature. The film containing 10 wt.% of oleic acid (OA) having the highest conductivity of 8.35 x 10-9 S cm-1 at room temperature. The addition of OA has increased the dielectric constant, which implies the increase of dissociation of the salt thereby producing more free ions for conducting, and hence increases the ionic conductivity.