Preparation and characterization of polyvinyl alcohol based nanocomposite membrane for direct methanol fuel cell

Abstract

In this work, polymer electrolyte membranes were synthesized by polyvinyl alcohol and Sulfosuccinic acid by phase inversion technique. Also, prepared polyvinyl alcohol with Sulfosuccinic acid by adding Montmorillonite (MMT) nanoparticles. The effect of different concentrations of (0,5,15,20,25 wt%) nanoparticles in the membranes was studied with respect to proton conductivity and methanol permeability. The characterization studies for the synthesized membranes were done by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Universal testing machine (UTM) and Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The result shows that the incorporation of the montmorillonite organoclay upon sulfonated PVA membrane strongly affected the properties of the membranes. FTIR spectrum confirms sulfonation. Mechanical stability was evaluated using UTM. Proton conductivity and methanol permeability of the membrane changed with the contents of Montmorillonite in a nonlinear fashion. The optimum concentration of Montmorillonite within the sulfonated membrane, corresponding to maximum proton conductivity to methanol permeability ratio was 15wt%. The novel Polyvinyl alcohol membrane showed excellent proton conductivity; less methanol permeability as compared to Nafion membrane.