ELECTROCHEMICAL BEHAVIOR OF A COMPOSITE MATERIAL OF SOLID BIOPOLYMER ELECTROLYTE FROM CASSAVA STARCH / GRAPHENE OXIDE PREPARED AT DIFFERENT pH

Background: Composite materials make it possible to modulate the properties of the source materials and expand their technological potential. In this sense, composite materials made from solid biopolymeric electrolytes and graphene oxide can be an attractive alternative for applications in organic electronics due to their electrochemical properties. Aim: The present work aims to evaluate the electrochemical behavior of a composite material made of solid biopolymeric electrolyte of cassava starch and graphene oxide at different concentrations to determine the effect of this concentration and the pH used in the production process. Methods: The composite material was made from the use of cassava starch plasticized with glycerol, glutaraldehyde, polyethylene glycol and with lithium perchlorate as electrolytes. During the synthesis process, graphene oxide was added in different concentrations (0, 0.25, 0.50, 1.00, 1.25, 1.50, and 1.75 %w/w) to evaluate the effect of the concentration of this component. The synthesis was carried out by thermochemical method with constant heating in an oven at 75 ° C for 48 hours. Films were prepared using synthesis solutions at different pH (5.0 and 9.0). The pH was regulated by adding HCl or NaOH to the synthesis solution as appropriate. Results and Discussion: The results showed that the cassava starch biopolymeric solid electrolyte films without plasticizers were stiff and brittle, so they broke easily. The films with plasticizers and the films of the composite material were stable to the manual traction, allowing their easy manipulation without breaking. The films presented a similar electrochemical behavior in terms of oxide reduction processes; however, the films with graphene oxide presented signals with higher peak currents. Films made at pH 9.0 showed 50 % more intensity in peak currents. The addition of graphene oxide affected the current parameters and peak potentials, being more marked in the films prepared at pH 9.0; at this pH the films with concentrations of graphene oxide lower than 1.00 %w/w presented variable Ep and Ip, while at concentrations of graphene oxide greater than 1%w/w, the behavior did not show significant variations. Conclusions: The addition of graphene oxide modulates or modifies the electrochemical behavior of cassava starch biopolymeric solid electrolyte films, and the processing pH can vary the effect of the graphene oxide addition.