Dielectric losses and proton conductivity of polyantimonic acid membranes

Abstract

Composite membranes consisting of polyvinyl alcohol and disperse particles of polyantimonic acid with different ratios of components were studied. Processes related to the relaxation and proton transport in a heterogeneous system were considered. The proton transport in the membranes was shown to occur both within the particle (along the chains of alternating wcapacitorater molecules and oxonium ions), forming macrodipoles, and in the intercrystallite space in the polymer matrix. The relaxation was described by the two-layer Maxwell–Wagner capacitor with an effective relaxation time. The relaxation activation energy obtained from the dielectric loss data coincided with the proton conductivity activation energy in the frequency-independent region, which points to the same nature of ion transport.