Free-Radical Photopolymerization of Acrylonitrile Grafted onto Epoxidized Natural Rubber.

The exploitation of epoxidized natural rubber (ENR) in electrochemical applications is approaching its limits because of its poor thermo-mechanical properties. These properties could be improved by chemical and/or physical modification, including grafting and/or crosslinking techniques. In this work, acrylonitrile (ACN) has been successfully grafted onto ENR- 25 by a radical photopolymerization technique. The effect of (ACN to ENR) mole ratios on chemical structure and interaction, thermo-mechanical behaviour and that related to the viscoelastic properties of the polymer was investigated. The existence of the -C≡N functional group at the end-product of ACN-g-ENR is confirmed by infrared (FT-IR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analyses. An enhanced grafting efficiency (~57%) was obtained after ACN was grafted onto the isoprene unit of ENR- 25 and showing a significant improvement in thermal stability and dielectric properties. The viscoelastic behaviour of the sample analysis showed an increase of storage modulus up to 150 × 103 MPa and the temperature of glass transition (Tg) was between -40 and 10 °C. The loss modulus, relaxation process, and tan delta were also described. Overall, the ACN-g-ENR shows a distinctive improvement in characteristics compared to ENR and can be widely used in many applications where natural rubber is used but improved thermal and mechanical properties are required. Likewise, it may also be used in electronic applications, for example, as a polymer electrolyte in batteries or supercapacitor.

The Effect of Lithium Iodide to the Properties of Carboxymethyl κ-Carrageenan/Carboxymethyl Cellulose Polymer Electrolyte and Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell Performance.

This study was undertaken to investigate the solid biopolymer electrolytes based on a carboxymethyl κ-carrageenan/carboxymethyl cellulose blend complexed with lithium iodide of various weight ratios. The complexation of the doping salt with the polymer blend was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Ionic conductivity of the film was determined by impedance spectroscopy in the frequency range of 10 Hz to 4 MHz and in the temperature range of 303⁻338 K. The ionic conductivity increased with the increase in lithium iodide concentration as well as temperature. The membrane comprising 30 wt % of lithium iodide was found to give the highest conductivity of 3.89 × 10-3 S·cm-1 at room temperature. The increase in conductivity was associated with the increase in the number as well as the mobility of the charge carries. The conductivity increase with temperature followed the Vogel⁻Tamman⁻Fulcher model. The fabricated dye-sensitive solar cell, FTO/TiO2-dye/CMKC/CMCE-LiI (30 wt %) +I2/Pt exhibited the highest conversion efficiency of 0.11% at a light intensity of 100 mW·cm-2. This indicated that the biopolymer blend electrolyte system has potential for use in dye-sensitized solar cells.