Effect of polyaniline (PANI) on Poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexaflouro propylene) (PVDF-co-HFP) polymer electrolyte membrane prepared by breath figure method

Poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexaflouro propylene) is a well-known material for polymer electrolyte membranes (PEMs) due to its low cost, high mechanical integrity and excellent chemical resistance; however, its pure form has limited characteristics that require further modification to achieve optimum results. Therefore, the different dosages of polyaniline (PANI) (10 wt%, 20 wt%, 30 wt%, 40 wt% and 50 wt%) were incorporated into PVDF-HFP blend to fabricate PVDF-HFP/PANI polymer electrolyte membrane by using breath-figure method. The FTIR peaks of PVDF-HFP and PVDF-HFP/PANI membrane confirms the successful incorporation of PANI into PVDF-HFP blend, while TGA, DSC and XRD analysis shows the PANI effect on stability and ionic conductivity of PVDF-HFP membrane. The PVDF-HFP/PANI membrane with 30 wt% PANI found superior with the highest porosity of 83%, electrolyte uptake of 270% and ionic conductivity of 1.96 mS cm⁻¹; however, the other concentrations of PANI were also effective and enhanced the performance of PVDF-HFP membrane. This shows the improved performances of PVDF-HFP membrane were attributed to successful incorporation of PANI and the proposed membrane can be a suitable alternative PEM or a separator for energy devices.