Preparation and characterization of a polymer electrolyte based on europium picrate

A novel polymer electrolyte based on commercial poly(ethylene oxide), PEO, and europium picrate has been characterized by thermal analysis and measure ments of total ionic conductivity. The results show that the observed condu ctivity is moderately high and independent of electrolyte composition, howe ver, the use of this salt also imposes restrictions on thermal stability. E xploratory experiments suggest that the picrate anion increases the lumines cent activity of the lanthanide cation and confirms that salt encapsulation within a polymeric host material reduces non-emissive energy loss. High mo lecular weight PEO is unlikely to be the best choice as a host polymer for use in optical applications as amorphous, homogeneous solid solutions were only obtained within a restricted composition range. (C) 2000 Elsevier Scie nce Ltd. All rights reserved.