fabrication and characterization of proton conductive membranes based on poly(methyl methacrylate-co-maleic anhydride)

In this study, proton conductive composite membranes were produced by using a poly(methylmethacrylate-co-maleic anhydride) (p(mma-co-mah)) copolymer and phosphotungstic acid (pwa) as an additive of the proton conductive agent. p(mma/mah) 70/30, 50/50, and 30/70 were synthesized using a free radical polymerization reaction. pwa with a concentration of 2% was added to improve the performance of proton exchange membranes. composite membranes of p(mma30-co-mah70)/pwa had the highest performance, and this improvement was attributed to the presence of mah and pwa. by increasing the ratio of mma:mah from 30/70 to 70/30, thermal stability, ion exchange capacity and proton conductivity of membranes enhanced up to 310°c, 0.85 meq/g, and 5.77 ms/cm, respectively. moreover, the addition of pwa into the membrane matrix improved the membrane characteristics so that thermal stability, ion exchange capacity, and proton conductivity increased to 317°c, 0.98 meq/g, and 14.42 ms/cm. the synthesized copolymer offered the required properties to be used for the fabrication of a proton conductive membrane.