Poly (Vinyl Alcohol) Based Polymer Electrolyte Membranes Crosslinked with Sulfosuccinic Acid

Abstract

Polymer electrolyte membranes (PEMs) composed of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), modified PVA polyanion containing 2 mol% of 2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid (AMPS) groups as a copolymer and sulfosuccinic acid (SSA) were prepared by solution blending. The PEMs of various AMPS and SSA contents (CAMPS and CSSA, respectively) and crosslinking conditions were prepared to determine the effect of sulfonic acid group contents and crosslinking conditions on PEM properties. Proton conductivity and methanol barrier property through the PEMs increased with increasing SSA content and have maximum value at respective SSA contents. The proton permeselectivity of the PEM , which is defined as the ratio of the proton conductivity to the permeability coefficient of methanol, gave a maximum value of 190×103 S cm-3 s. The value is about 4 times higher than that of Nafion 117.