AC impedance and dielectric studies of biopolymer electrolytes based on I-carrageenan

Biopolymer electrolytes based on iota-carrageenan (I-carrageenan) with sodium trifluoromethanesulfonate (NaTf) were prepared by way of the conventional solution-casting technique. The biopolymer I-carrageenan was fixed as 1 g, and the concentration of NaTf was varied from 0.1 to 0.5 wt% in steps of 0.1 wt%. Distilled water was used as a solvent. Alternating current (AC) impedance measurements were carried out in the frequency window of 42 Hz–1 MHz. The same measurements were also carried out at different temperatures for all the prepared biopolymer samples. A maximum ionic conductivity of 2.6771 × 10⁻⁵ S/cm was obtained for the 0.3 wt% NaTf-added I-carrageenan system at room temperature. The temperature-dependent conductivity plot of the polymer electrolyte seemed to obey the Arrhenius relation. A low activation energy of 0.021 eV was observed for the sample with the highest ionic conductivity. From AC impedance data, dielectric parameters were obtained. The magnitude of the dielectric constant was found to increase with the increase in temperature. A low relaxation time was observed for the sample that possesses the maximum ionic conductivity.