Abstract
Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are being considered as highly promising future energy source due to their high-energy conversion efficiency and their ability to address the environmental concerns related to current energy production. Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) is recognized as the key element for an efficient PEMFC. Chemically cross-linked composite membranes consisting of a sulfonated poly(vinyl alcohol) and polybenzimidazole have been prepared by solution casting and were evaluated as proton conducting polymer electrolytes for fuel cell application. All the raw materials used for the preparation of these membranes are environment friendly and these composite membranes are expected to provide the requisite properties for their successful application in fuel cells for energy production specifically owing to their high proton conductivity without much reliance on membrane hydration and low methanol permeability. The best resistance to methanol permeability was observed to be in the order of 10-8 cm2/s and the best proton conductivity was observed to be in the order of 10-3 S/cm for the prepared PEMs.