Nature-Based Polymeric Electrolytes Towards Sustainable Applications

The present global scenario drives the need for efficient energy storage systems, with special emphasis on electrochemical devices. Due to the widespread use of critical and toxic materials, the research community has begun prioritizing next-generation materials based on various factors, including greener availability, low-impact, recyclability, biodegradability, cost-effectiveness, and eco-friendliness. A large share of the electrolytes reported in the literature encompasses significant drawbacks such as complicated synthesis, use of ionic liquids, toxic composition, restricting their development for applications and posing environmental problems for their disposal.<br/>In contrast, biopolymer-based electrolytes meet all of the aforementioned criteria and can play an important role in energy applications. Having this in mind, this work focused on the selection of highly available, rapid regeneration natural materials (lignin, cellulose, alginate) to prepare polymer electrolyte systems.<br/>These natural polymers are particularly interesting due to their chemical structure differences, influencing the ionic conductivity of the electrolytes. In the present work, two approaches were pursued: creating a biopolymeric electrolyte and preparing biopolymer matrices that act as the host polymer that might incorporate the electrolyte and various ionic dopants to increase their ionic conductivity further.<br/>Different host polymer matrices were prepared and impregnated with lignin-based electrolytes with ionic conductivities in the order of 10^-4 – 10^-3 Scm^-1.