Effect of Plasma pretreatment and Graphene oxide ratios on the transport properties of PVA/PVP membranes for fuel cells.

In this study, a novel proton-conducting polymer electrolyte membrane based on a mixture of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) (1:1) mixed with different ratios of graphene oxide (GO) and plasma-treated was successfully synthesized. Dielectric barrier dielectric (DBD) plasma was used to treat the prepared samples at various dose rates (2, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 9 min) and at fixed power input (2 kV, 50 kHz). The treated samples (PVA/PVP:GO wt%) were soaked in a solution of styrene and tetrahydrofuran (70:30 wt%) with 5 × 10 g of benzoyl peroxide as an initiator in an oven at 60 °C for 12 h and then sulfonated to create protonic membranes (PVA/PVP-g-PSSA:GO).