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Effect of nano-composite on polyvinyl alcohol-based proton conducting membrane for direct methanol fuel cell applications

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Abstract

Novel composite membranes composed of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as host with montmorillonite (MMT) were prepared by solution casting method. A maximum conductivity of 0.9527 S cm−1 was obtained at room temperature for the composite membrane of PVA (80)-H+MMT(20). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) studies confirmed the functional groups present in the membranes. The exfoliation of composite material in polymer matrix was analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique. The results of ion exchange capacity (IEC), water/methanol uptake, and swelling measurements were presented. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) result also revealed uniform and homogeneous mixture of nano-composite particle of MMT. Simultaneous thermal analysis (STA) curves exposed an excellent thermal stability. Moreover, the conductivity results indicate that the prepared PVA/MMT composite membranes have a good electrochemical performance for recent trends in energy research. It is noticed that the low methanol uptake for the prepared membrane is a good candidate for the fuel cell applications.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, University College of Engineering, Anna University, Dindigul, 624622, India

    P. Bahavan Palani & R. Kannan

  2. School of Physics, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, 625021, India

    S. Rajashabala

  3. Department of Physics, Alagappa University, Karaikudi, 630003, India

    S. Rajendran

  4. Department of Physics, Periyar University, Salem, 636011, India

    G. Velraj

Authors
  1. P. Bahavan Palani
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  2. R. Kannan
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  3. S. Rajashabala
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  4. S. Rajendran
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  5. G. Velraj
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to R. Kannan.

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Bahavan Palani, P., Kannan, R., Rajashabala, S. et al. Effect of nano-composite on polyvinyl alcohol-based proton conducting membrane for direct methanol fuel cell applications. Ionics 21, 507–513 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-014-1193-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-014-1193-1

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