Preparation of polymers electrolyte membranes from Styrofoam waste for lithium battery

Recently, the battery industry has represented one important and growing sector where the use of non-toxic and non-hazardous substitute materials has not rapidly developed. The environmentally friendly polymer electrolyte is required to decrease the risk of environmental pollution caused by toxic materials of battery components. Therefore, in this study was focused on the preparation of the environmentally friendly polymer electrolyte membrane with low cost for lithium-ion battery applications. The preparation of polymer electrolyte membrane was done by casting of polymer solution. The main materials used to prepare polymer electrolyte membranes are sulfonated polystyrene (SPS) obtained from isolation of Styrofoam, hydrolyzed bacterial poly(R-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB), and lithium perchlorate (LiClO₄) as an ionic salt. The isolated polystyrene was reacted with acetyl sulfate to form sulfonated polystyrene (SPS). These three main materials were dissolved in an appropriate solvent and mixture until homogenous. The polymer solution was poured into a petri dish, and then their solvent was evaporated. The results showed that the increase LiClO₄ content in the membranes, the conductivity of membrane increases, but their mechanical strength decreases and the surface morphology of membranes becomes less uniform and homogenous.