The use of nanotechnology along with the consideration of a functionalization and stabilization approach to poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) is considered useful for the preparation of cost‐effective polyelectrolyte membranes. A set of nanocomposite and crosslinked membranes based on PVA/sulfosuccinic acid (SSA)/graphene oxide (GO) are prepared and analyzed as polyelectrolytes in direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). The crosslinking and sulfonation by the use of SSA enhances the stability and increase the proton‐conducting sites in the PVA structure. The presence of GO augments the stability, remarkably decreases the methanol crossover, and enhances power density curves. An optimum value for proton conductivity is found for the 0.50 wt% of GO proportion, which decreases with higher concentrations of GO. Given the power density curve dependency on both the proton conductivity and the crossover reduction, the performance of these membranes as polyelectrolytes in DMFCs is strictly related to the balance between both factors. Therefore, a proportion of GO of 0.75 wt% may assure suitable proton conductivity of 3 mS cm⁻¹ and high resistance to methanol permeability, reaching promising power density of 16 mW cm⁻² with lower hydration levels.

中文翻译：

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磺化聚（乙烯醇）/氧化石墨烯聚电解质在直接甲醇燃料电池中的性能

纳米技术的使用以及对聚乙烯醇（PVA）的功能化和稳定化方法的考虑被认为对制备经济高效的聚电解质膜很有用。制备了一组基于PVA /磺基琥珀酸（SSA）/氧化石墨烯（GO）的纳米复合膜和交联膜，并作为直接甲醇燃料电池（DMFC）中的聚电解质进行了分析。通过使用SSA进行交联和磺化可增强稳定性，并增加PVA结构中的质子传导位点。GO的存在增强了稳定性，显着降低了甲醇交换，并增强了功率密度曲线。发现GO比例为0.50重量％时质子传导率的最佳值，其随GO浓度的增加而降低。给定功率密度曲线既依赖于质子传导率，又依赖于交叉减少，因此这些膜作为DMFC中的聚电解质的性能与两个因素之间的平衡密切相关。因此，GO的0.75重量％的比例可以确保合适的3 mS cm的质子传导率^-1和对甲醇渗透性的高抵抗力，在较低的水合水平下达到了16 mW cm ^-2的有希望的功率密度。