• Macromolecular Research
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.135-140
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• 2005

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) membranes crosslinked with poly(acrylic acid-co-maleic acid) (PAM) were prepared to investigate the effect of aging on their morphology by swelling them for up to 7 days. PAM was used both as a crosslinking agent and as a donor of the hydrophilic-COOH group. A $30 wt\%$ weight loss of the dry membrane was observed in the swelling test after 6 days. The surface of the membrane was dramatically changed after the swelling test. The surface roughness of the PVA/PAM membrane was increased, as determined by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The swelling loosened the polymer structure, due to the release of the unreacted polymer and the decomposition of the ester bond, thereby resulting in an increase in the free volume capable of containing water molecules. The water molecules present in the form of free water were determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The fraction of free water increased with increasing swelling time. The swelling of the membrane may provide space for the transport of protons and increase the mobility of the protonic charge carriers. The proton conductivity of the membranes measured at T= 30 and $50^{\circ}C$ was in the range of $10^{-3} to 10^{-2} S/cm$, and slightly increased with increasing swelling time and temperature.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.545-549
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• 2006

Blends of poly(acrylic acid- co-maleic acid) (PAM) with poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) were pre -pared in distilled water PVA/PAM/saponite (PVA/PAM/SPT) nanocomposite films were prepared with various clay contents by using the solution intercalation method. The variations of the dispersion, morphology, and thermo-mechanical properties of the nanocomposites with clay content in the range 0 to 9 wt% were examined. Up to 3 wt% clay loading, the clay particles were homogeneously dispersed in the PVA/PAM blends. However, some agglomerated structures form in the polymer matrix above a clay content of 7 wt%. The thermal stability of the hybrids was increased linearly with increasing the clay loading up to 9 wt%. The maximum strength and modulus were obtained at a clay content of 7 wt%. Thus, the addition of small amounts of clay to the PVA/PAM blends produced PVA/PAM nano-composites with improved the thermo-mechanical properties.

• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
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• 2004.05b
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• pp.195-198
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• 2004

In our previous study, the crosslinked PVA/PAM membrane was prepared to investigate the pervaporation performance, and analyzed by FT-IR and water swelling test. This main objective of this work was to investigate the aging effect of PVA/PAM membrane with swelling time.(omitted)

• Membrane Journal
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.117-125
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• 2004

Proton exchange membrane composed of PVA/PAM/ZrP was prepared and effect of PAM and ZrP contents on properties and performance of the membrane were investigated. PAM as a crosslinking agent was mixed into PVA solution with different concentration (7∼11 wt%) and the PVA/PAM solution was cast to prepare PVA/PAM crosslinked membrane. The membrane was treated in the solution of zirconyl chloride and phophoric acid to make a PVA/PAM/ZrP composite membrane. Methanol permeability, ion conductivity, swelling and ion exchange capacity of the membranes with different ZrP concentration were $10^{-8}∼l0^{-6}$ $\textrm{cm}^2$/sec, $10^{-3}~10^{-2}$ S/cm, 0.26∼1.17 g $H_2O$/g membrane and 2.59∼5.1 meq/g membrane, respectively. Hethanol permeability and ion conductivity of the PVA/PAM/ZrP membrane were improved by 18% and 23%, respectively, compared to those of the PVA/PAM membrane.