A Proton Conducting Composite Membrane based on Polyvinyl Alcohol and Polyaniline-intercalated Graphene Oxide

Abstract

A novel proton conducting membrane was synthesized based on a composite of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and sulfonated polyaniline-intercalated graphene oxide (SPANi-GO). The synthesized membranes were characterized by tensile strength measurement, thermo-gravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, XRD and FTIR techniques. The effect of SPANi-GO on the proton conductivity of the PVA based membrane (PVA/SPANi-GO) was studied. The nanocomposite membrane exhibited an impressive ionic conductivity of 0.129 Scm(-1) at 25 degrees C. Further, the membranes showed excellent thermal and mechanical properties. The water content of the pristine as well as the nanocomposites membrane was found to be in the range of 42-52%. The results indicate that the simply prepared PVA/SPANi-GO is a promising proton conducting membrane for practical applications.