Electrical and Optical characterization of Malonic acid doped Poly Vinyl Alcohol
polymer electrolytes
Novel proton conducting solid polymer electrolyte membranes based on Poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) with Malonic Acid as dopant are prepared by solution cast technique with varying doping concentrations up to 40 wt.%. The electrical conductivity and optical absorption of pure PVA and Malonic aciddoped PVA electrolytes are investigated. DC conductivity behavior is studied in the range 303K to 373K. It is found that PVA: Malonic acid (70:30) electrolyte exhibits the maximum conductivity. The electrical conductivity initially increases with increasing dopant concentration and then showed a decrease beyond 30 wt.% concentration. The increase in conductivity is attributed to formation of charge transfer complexes while the decrease for concentrations above 30 wt.% is due to segregation. Optical absorption studies are made in the wavelength range 200-600 nm and the values of optical band gap (direct and indirect) are estimated. The results obtained are presented and discussed.