Plasticized chitosan-proton conductor polymer electrolyte films were prepared by dissolving chitosan powder, ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) salt and ethylene carbonate (EC) plasticizer in acetic acid solution. The highest conductivity of the chitosan-salt with 40 wt.% NH4NO3 in the film at room temperature was 8.38 +/- 4.11 x 10(-5) S cm(-1) and this increased to 9.93 1.90 x 10(-3) S cm(-1) with 70 wt.% EC. Batteries with a configuration of: Zn+ZnSO4 center dot 7H(2)O/18Wt-% CA-12wt.% NH4NO3-70wt.% EC/MnO2 provided an open-circuit voltage of 1.56 +/-0.06V. The discharge characteristics using a 1 mA constant current demonstrated a capacity of 17.0 +/- 2.6 mAh. The internal resistance was 29.8 +/- 5.1 Omega. While the highest power density was 8.70 +/-1.91 mW cm(-2). (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.