Synthesis and characterization of hybrid proton conducting membranes of poly(vinyl alcohol) and phosphomolybdic acid

Hybrid proton conducting membranes of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and phosphomolybdic acid (PMA) were prepared by solution casting method. The effect of PMA doping and PVA crosslinking density on the membrane properties and proton conductivity were investigated. The crosslinking reaction between the hydroxyl group of PVA and the aldehyde group of glutaraldehyde (GA) was characterized by IR spectroscopy. Proton conductivity of the membranes increases with an increase in concentration of the doped PMA and also with an increase in crosslinking density of the membranes. Proton conductivity results indicate that a significant amount of PMA was maintained in the membranes even after several hours of immersion in water. A maximum conductivity of 0.0101 S cm(-1) was obtained for the membrane with 33.3 wt% PMA and crosslinking density of 5.825 mol%. X-ray diffraction studies were carried out to investigate the influence of PMA doping and crosslinking density on the nature of the membranes. These properties make them very good candidates for polymer electrolyte membranes for direct methanol fuel cell application.