Enhancement of Dielectric and Electrical Properties in Alginate‐PVA‐Glycolic Acid Biopolymer Electrolytes via Ethylene Carbonate Plasticization

ABSTRACT This study focuses on the development and characterization of a biopolymer blend electrolytes (BBEs) system based on alginate and poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA), doped with glycolic acid (GA) and plasticized with ethylene carbonate (EC). The BBEs were synthesized via solution casting and systematically investigated to evaluate the influence of EC content on their electrical and dielectric properties. Electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was employed to analyze the immittance response of the BBEs system at ambient temperature. The electrical equivalent circuit (EEC) fitting confirmed enhanced ion transport with the highest conducting sample found at 1.20 × 10 —4 S cm −1 for samples containing 4 wt.% of EC. The observed improvement is attributed to increased polymer chain flexibility and ion mobility induced by EC plasticization. Meanwhile, dielectric spectroscopy revealed an increase in the dielectric constant (ε') and dielectric loss (ε'') at low frequencies due to the higher number of mobile ions facilitated by EC plasticization. However, excessive EC content led to ion aggregation, reducing overall dielectric performance. The electrical modulus analysis further confirmed non‐Debye relaxation behavior, with the imaginary part of the modulus (M'') exhibiting a relaxation peak, signifying a strong correlation between ionic conduction and polarization effects.