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

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°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.