PVDF-HFP Membrane Research Articles

Enhancing DCMD vapor flux of PVDF-HFP membrane with hydrophilic silica fibers

Hydrophobicity is an important property for membranes used in direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD). The higher the hydrophobicity the better the membrane capability in preventing liquid crossover. On the other hand, membrane pore hydrophilicity enhances water vapor transport and increases membrane permeability. This tradeoff is resolved by incorporating electrospun silica fibers (SiF) as fillers in electrospun poly(vinylidenefluoride-co-hexafluropropylene) (PVDF-HFP). Composite PVDF-HFP/SiF membranes were fabricated and applied in DCMD to desalinate salt water. Various SiF loadings from 0.5 wt% to 7.0 wt% were studied. Although no hydrophobic modification was carried out on the SiF before use, they still allowed the composite membranes to maintain water contact angles above 90° due to their fibrous structure (Cassie-Baxter state). The addition of silica in fibrous form to the membrane prevented agglomeration in the composite membrane and decreased overall porosity, but resulted in higher water flux for the composite membranes compared to the neat PVDF-HFP membrane when tested for MD over a time period of 11 h with 35 g/L saline feed. Despite the hydrophilic nature of SiF, all the composite membranes maintained perfect salt rejection throughout the experiment.

Porous polymer electrolytes for long-cycle stable quasi-solid-state magnesium batteries

A flexible porous polymer electrolyte (PPE) was creatively designed for quasi-solid magnesium battery. The MoS 2 /C//PPE//Mg battery exhibited high reversible capacity and unprecedentedly long cycling life. The development of applicable electrolytes is the key point for high-performance rechargeable magnesium batteries (RMBs). The use of liquid electrolyte is prone to safety problems caused by liquid electrolyte leakage. Polymer-based gel electrolytes with high ionic conductivity, great flexibility, easy processing, and high safety have been studied by many scholars in recent years. In this work, a novel porous poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) membrane is prepared by a phase inversion method. By immersing porous PVDF-HFP membranes in MgCl 2 -AlCl 3 / TEGDME (Tetraethylene glycol dimethyl ether) electrolytes, porous PVDF-HFP based electrolytes (PPEs) are formed. The PPE exhibits a high ionic conductivity (4.72 × 10 −4 S cm −1 , 25 °C), a high liquid electrolyte uptake of 162%, as well as a wide voltage window (3.1 V). The galvanostatic cycling test of Mg//Mg symmetric cell with PPE reveals that the reversible magnesium ion (Mg 2+ ) plating/stripping occurs at low overpotentials (~0.13 V). Excellent long cycle stability (65.5 mAh g −1 over 1700 cycles) is achieved for the quasi-solid-state RMB assembled with MoS 2 /C cathode and Mg anode. Compared with the liquid electrolyte, the PPE could effectively reduce the side reactions and make Mg 2+ plating/stripping more uniformly on the Mg electrode side. This strategy herein provides a new route to fabricate high-performance RMB through suitable cathode material and polymer electrolyte with excellent performance.

Tailoring Morphology of PVDF-HFP Membrane via One-step Reactive Vapor Induced Phase Separation for Efficient Oil-Water Separation

Poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) receives increasing attention in membrane separation field based on its advantages such as high mechanical strength, thermal and chemical stability. However, controlling the microporous structure is still challenging. In this work, we attempted to tailor the morphology of PVDF-HFP membrane via a one-step reactive vapor induced phase separation method. Namely, PVDF-HFP was dissolved in a volatile solvent and then was cast in an ammonia water vapor atmosphere. After complete evaporation of solvent, membranes with adjustable porous structure were prepared, and the microstructures of the membranes were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction characterizations. Based on the results, a mechanism of dehydrofluorination induced cross-linking of PVDF-HFP has been suggested to understand the morphology tailoring. To our knowledge, this is the first report of one-step reactive vapor induced phase separation strategy to tailor morphology of PVDF-HFP membrane. In addition, the membranes prepared in the ammonia water vapor exhibited enhanced mechanical strength and achieved satisfactory separation efficiency for water-in-oil emulsions, suggesting promising potential.

In-situ silica nanoparticle assembly technique to develop an omniphobic membrane for durable membrane distillation

This work reported that a novel omniphobic membrane distillation (MD) membrane was successfully fabricated by constructing a re-entrant microstructure via in-situ silica nanoparticle (SiNPs) growth on an electrospun polyvinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene (PVDF-HFP)/3-aminopropyl-triethoxysilane (APTES) nanofibrous membrane, and subsequent hydrophobization. Introducing APTES provided the nucleation sites for in situ SiNPs growth on the hydrophobic nanofibers for re-entrant structure construction. After hydrophobization, the final membrane exhibited outstanding omniphobicity with high contact angle values of 151.49°, 140.64°, 119.59°, and 107.5° to water, mineral oil, 4 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and ethanol, respectively. More importantly, the prepared omniphobic membrane showed satisfactory wetting resistance in a feed solution containing a 3.5 wt% NaCl and 0.4 mM SDS, and the salt rejection was ~100%. In addition, the omniphobic membrane also demonstrated robust scaling resistance, which was in sharp contrast to the PVDF-HFP membrane. Meanwhile, during treating a mineral oil-in-saline (3.5 wt% NaCl) water emulsion, the omniphobic membrane displayed outstanding anti-wetting and anti-fouling properties, indicated by a steady state permeate flux and ~100% stable salt rejection during the continuously 72 h tests. These overall findings indicated that the prepared omniphobic membranes have great potential in MD for challenging industrial wastewaters.

Preparation of Highly Hydrophobic PVDF-HFP Membrane with Anti-Wettability Characteristic

Membrane gas-liquid separation technology has gained great interest in membrane desalination, distillation, and gas absorption attributed to its good operation flexibility, small footprint and high specific interfacial area. Membrane acts as the non-selective barrier between gas and liquid solvent by allowing the diffusion of gas molecules via pressure difference. Currently used membrane is susceptible to pore wetting at high operational pressure, transforming its non-wetted condition to partially wetted and wetted mode. Such condition introduces additional mass transfer resistance to gas molecules, leading to the poor removal flux. In order to alleviate the wetting tendency, membrane hydrophobicity needs to be enhanced. In this work, highly hydrophobic PVDF-HFP membrane of improved anti-wettability properties was synthesized via non-solvent induced phase separation. The effect of polymer concentration and coagulation medium on membrane wettability were studied. The results revealed that PVDF-HFP membrane of 10wt% polymer concentration presented high water contact angle of 100.4°. By changing water to ethanol as coagulation medium, membrane exhibited a symmetric nodular structure which enhanced water contact angle by 20.3% to 130.5º. To further improve membrane hydrophobicity, modified silica (MS) nanoparticles were used as surface modifier in coagulation bath. When the nanoparticles content increased from 0g to 2g, the water contact angle of the PVDF-HFP modified membrane increased significantly from 130.5° to 163.1°. As a result, the liquid entry pressure of the membranes increased gradually from 0.58bar to 3.38bar with MS incorporation. This disparity in membrane anti-wettability is due to the increase in surface roughness and reduction in surface energy. Additionally, the modified membrane at MS loading of 2g showed high porosity at 78%, which is adequate to provide increased mass transfer rate between gas and liquid solvent.

Omniphobic surface modification of electrospun nanofiber membrane via vapor deposition for enhanced anti-wetting property in membrane distillation

Membrane distillation (MD) is a promising technology for treating saline industrial wastewater, but current hydrophobic MD membranes suffer significant wetting issues due to contaminants commonly present in wastewater. In this study, we report an effective method to fabricate a polyvinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene (PVDF-HFP) electrospun nanofiber membrane with improved anti-wetting property against low-surface-tension substances. Without surface activation, the pristine electrospun nanofiber PVDF-HFP membrane with intrinsic re-entrant structure was directly fluorinated by 1H, 1H, 2H, 2H-perfluorodecyltrichlorosilane (FDTS) employing vapor deposition (VD). The fluorinated membrane exhibited excellent surface omniphobicity with high water and ethanol contact angle of 154.1 ± 0.1° and 122.6 ± 1.7°, respectively. The fluorinated membrane showed highly stable omniphobicity and mechanical properties at harsh conditions such as ultrasonic, boiling water, acid and base treatment. More importantly, the resultant omniphobic membrane exhibited robust wetting resistance to the saline feed containing sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS, 0.4 mM) in an 8-h dynamic direct contact MD (DCMD) test. This study provides an effective and benign approach to fabricate omniphobic nanofiber membranes which have great potential in treating saline wastewater containing low surface tension substances.

Preparation of polydimethylsiloxane-SiO2/PVDF-HFP mixed matrix membrane of enhanced wetting resistance for membrane gas absorption

Membrane gas absorption (MGA) has been widely used to separate CO2 from gas mixture attributed to its high interfacial area. In order to secure high absorption flux, the pores of the membrane need to be non-wetted. Currently, hydrophobic membrane suffers from severe pore wetting over prolonged periods of operation. This has called for the enhancement of membrane hydrophobicity to suppress the tendency of pore wetting. In this work, highly hydrophobic PVDF-HFP membrane was synthesized using solvent additive i.e. polydimethylsiloxane-grafted-silica (PGS) via non-solvent induced phase separation. Results showed that mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) exhibited hierarchical structure composed of polymer spherulites due to delayed phase inversion. The embedment of nanoparticles in membrane matrix also contributed to the reduction of membrane’s surface energy. As a result, MMMs achieved an improvement in wetting resistance with a water contact angle up to 149.87° at 3 wt% of PGS nanoparticles. The CO2 absorption test using MEA as liquid absorbent showed that MMMs exhibited an enhancement in gas absorption flux owing to higher hydrophobicity. The CO2 absorption flux of pristine and MMMs was declined about 37% and 22%, respectively during 150 h of operation.

All-Solid-State Electrospun Poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene)/Li7.1La3Ba0.05Zr1.95O12 Nanohybrid Membrane Electrolyte for High-Energy Li-Ion Capacitors

Herein, we prepared all-solid-state electrospun poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP)/Li7.1La3Ba0.05Zr1.95O12 nanohybrid membrane electrolytes (esHPMEs) by an electrospinning ...

Stable and Highly Ion-Selective Membrane Made from Cellulose Nanocrystals for Aqueous Redox Flow Batteries.

The design of chemically stable ion-exchange membranes with high selectivity for applications in an aqueous redox flow battery (RFB) at high acid concentrations remains a significant challenge. Herein, this study designed a stable and highly ion-selective membrane by utilizing proton conductive cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) incorporated in a semicrystalline hydrophobic poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) matrix. The high hydrophobicity of the PVDF-HFP matrix mitigates crossover of the electrolytes, whereas the abundant and low-cost CNCs derived from wood provide high proton conductivity. The fundamental contributors for CNCs' excellent proton conductivity are the hydroxyl (-OH) functional groups, highly acidic sulfonate (-SO3H) functional groups, and the extensive intramolecular hydrogen bonding network. In addition, CNCs exhibit a mechanically and chemically stable structure in the harsh acidic electrolyte attributed to the high crystallinity (crystalline index of ∼86%). Therefore, because of the high proton conductivity, excellent ion selectivity, high chemical stability, and structural robustness, the vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) assembled with the homogeneous CNCs and PVDF-HFP (CNC/PVDF-HFP) membrane achieved a Coulombic efficiency (CE) of 98.2%, energy efficiency (EE) of 88.2%, and a stable cycling performance for more than 650 cycles at a current density of 100 mA cm-2. The obtained membrane possesses excellent flexibility, high mechanical tensile strength, and superior selectivity. Meanwhile, the applied casting method is scalable for large-scale manufacturing.

Preparation and characterization of porous PVdF-HFP/graphene oxide composite membranes by solution casting technique

Poly(vinylidenefluroide-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVdF-HFP) is used as a polymer electrolyte for energy storage devices like batteries, supercapacitors, and electric double layer capacitors (EDLC’s) due to its high mechanical stability, thermal stability and ionic conductivity. Plasticized lithium ion conducting PVdF-HFP membrane was prepared with ethylene carbonate (EC) and LiClO4 as plasticizer and salt, respectively via simple solution casting technique. Membranes were made of PVdF-HFP (50 wt%), EC (35 wt%), lithium perchlorate (LiClO4) (15 wt%) with various wt% of graphene oxide (GO) (0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 wt%) . The structural analysis of the membrane was made through XRD and FTIR studies. The morphological aspects were analyzed through Scanning Electron Microscopy. The membrane comprising 0.1 wt% of GO was optimized to have good ionic conductivity of 1.58 × 10−4 S/cm, as explored by AC impedance analysis. The role of GO on the porous nature of the membranes and its effect on the electrical property of the membrane, its electrochemical stability and the electrochemical performance of the EDLC are explained. The changes in electrical properties of the membranes after the pore filling with electrolyte and hence the changes in electrochemical performances were explored.

Multifunctional polymer electrolyte improving stability of electrode-electrolyte interface in lithium metal battery under high voltage

High-voltage lithium (Li) metal batteries are promising high-performance energy storage systems. However, their practical applications are troubled by unstable electrode-electrolyte interface, the narrow electrochemical window and unsafety of liquid electrolyte. Here, a multifunctional asymmetrical gel polymer electrolyte (a-GPE) with gradient structure is proposed to address the mentioned above issues. The host of a-GPE is consisted of the poly(vinylidene fluoride hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) nanofiber membranes containing BaTiO3 (BTO) with gradually varying content along thickness. This design incorporates comprehensive consideration of ionic conductivity, Li-ion transference number and electrochemical stability window, as well as mechanical property, thus achieving smooth and steady Li-ion flux in interior of a-GPE. Significantly, the PVDF-HFP membranes without BTO face the Li-metal to accomplish homogeneous Li deposition/stripping, and the BTO-rich PVDF-HFP membranes are adjacent to cathode to generate an effective protection film for stabilizing interface owing to polarization effect on the migration kinetics of mobile Li ions, especially under high voltage and large current. Consequently, the LiNi0.5Mn0.3Co0.2O2/Li batteries based on a-GPE exhibit superior comprehensive performances, including dramatic cycling performance and excellent rate performance at high voltage, good electrochemical performance under low temperature and high safety, as well as favorable flexibility. These ideal comprehensive performances can be conveniently realized through ingenious design of conventional polymers, rather than expensive synthetic materials and complicated fabrication process. This work will initiate a new development of advanced polymer electrolyte for high-energy and safe Li batteries.

Antiwettability enhancement of PVDF-HFP membrane via superhydrophobic modification by SiO2 nanoparticles

Pore wetting is undesirable in the membrane gas–liquid separation process as it deteriorates the gas removal flux. To alleviate the affinity of a membrane surface toward a liquid solvent, its hydrophobicity needs to be enhanced. In this study, a superhydrophobic polyvinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene membrane was synthesized via a simple and facile nonsolvent-induced phase inversion process. Hydrophobic nano-SiO2 particles were used as solvent additives to improve the wetting resistance of the membrane. The results revealed that blended nano-SiO2 membranes exhibited enhanced surface hydrophobicity in terms of water contact angle. Such improvement was attributed to the enhancement of surface roughness via the formation of hierarchical multilevel protrusions. Besides, the embedment of nanoparticles in polymer spherulitic globules also contributed to the reduction in surface energy of the membrane. As a result, the blended nano-SiO2 membrane achieved superhydrophobicity with a water contact angle of up to 151°.

Sodium ion conducting gel polymer electrolyte using poly(vinylidene fluoride hexafluoropropylene)

Gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) films using polyvinylidene fluoride – hexafluoropropylene (PVdF – HFP) matrix were prepared for aim to achieve good sodium-ion conductivity at room temperature. GPE of PVF-HFP were formed by microporous PVDF-HFP membranes filled and swollen in different liquid electrolytes: GPEs were formed by microporous PVDF-HFP membranes filled and swollen in different liquid electrolytes: NaClO4, NaPF6 and NaTFSI salts dissolved in mixtures of carbonate solvents (propylene carbonate (PC), fluoroethylenecarbonate (FEC)) or ionic liquids (1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethane-sulfonyl)imide and 1-butyl-3-methyl bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide). The effect of different electrolytes on the structure and morphology, electrolyte absorption and sodium ionic conductivity of activated membrane were investigated. GPEs showed “sponge-like” structure with high porosity of 80–85% and large pore size. The ionic conductivity of GPEs reached 1–2 mS.cm−1 at room temperature. Sodium intercalation into Na0.44MnO2 electrode was performed in coin-cell type by using GPEs as conduction media. Cycling data of sodium cell using PVdF-HFP/NaClO4 1 M-PC:2%FEC exhibited an excellent stable specific capacity of 100 mAh.g−1 at room temperature.

Conduction mechanism in polymeric membranes based on PEO or PVdF-HFP and containing a piperidinium ionic liquid

Two types of polymer electrolyte membranes were prepared using poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and poly(vinylidene difluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVdF-HFP), with different amounts of the ionic liquid N-methyl-N-propylpiperidinium bis(trifluoromethane-sulfonyl)imide ([PP13][TFSI]) added. The results from differential scanning calorimetry and conductivity measurements show that in the case of PVdF-HFP membranes the glass transition temperature Tg decreases and the room temperature ionic conductivity increases with increasing content of the ionic liquid (up to 60 wt.%). However, in the case of PEO based membranes Tg is less significantly affected and the room temperature ionic conductivity increases only up to 30 wt.% of ionic liquid, beyond which a steady value of about 5⋅10−5 S/cm is reached. The results from Raman spectroscopy show that the characteristic vibrational mode of the TFSI anion at ∼742 cm−1 is weakly affected in the membranes prepared from PVdF-HFP, whereas for those based on PEO it has a clearer composition dependence. These results suggest ion-ion and ion-polymer interactions of different nature, which together with the different nanomorphologies adopted by PEO and PVdF-HFP, as revealed by X-ray scattering, give rise to different composition dependences of the macroscopically measured ionic conductivity.

Direct electrophoretic deposition of an ultra-strong separator on an anode in a surfactant-free colloidal system for lithium ion batteries

A hierarchically laminated nanostructured PVdF–HFP membrane is deposited directly on a carbon anode through efficient, scalable electrophoretic deposition (EPD) in a surfactant-free colloidal system.

Thin and porous polymer membrane-based electrochromic devices

A newly fabricated electrochromic (EC) device with a thin and porous PVdF-HFP membrane enabled faster coloring and bleaching rates, and exhibited higher stability than its non-porous counterpart.

The Stability of Polymers in Liquid Li-S Battery

Polymers have been widely employed as the binders, separators, separator modifiers and gel polymer electrolytes in lithium-sulfur batteries. Considering the special electrolyte system and discharge/charge mechanism, to verify whether the common polymer is applicable for Li-S battery is extremely necessary but often overlooked. In this paper the stability of some frequently-used polymersin the ether electrolyte(1 M LiTFSI + 0.2 MLiNO3/dioxolane (DOL) and 1,2-dimethoxyethane(DME) (1:1, v/v)) on the cycling and storage performances of Li-S batteryis examined by testing the solubility of the PEO, PVDF and PVDF-HFP particles/membranes in ether electrolyte and detecting the structure and composition changes of PVDF and PVDF-HFP membranes after cycling and storage as the separators of Li-S batteries. The results show that PEO particle and membrane both can dissolve in DOL and DME(1:1). PVDF and PVDF-HFP particles also dissolve in DOL and DME(1:1) but the membranes remain relatively stable, whereas PVDF-HFP react with Li2Sx in liquid Li-S cellto form sulfone, which induce the crystalline phase transformation (from α-phase to γ-phase) and cystallinity decrease. PVDF can also react with Li2Sxin liquid Li-S cell, but the action is less intensive than PVDF-HFP.

Seawater desalination using PVDF-HFP membrane in DCMD process: assessment of operating condition by response surface method

Central composite design (CCD) was applied in this work to analyze the performance of poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) flat sheet membrane in the seawater desalination using direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) process. It is the most popular in response surface method (RSM). Development on Quadratic Regression model for membrane performance as a function of the operating conditions was studied. The ranges for each operating condition were selected as follows: feed temperature (Tf): 48–58 °C, feed flow rate (Qf): 80–180 mL/min, permeate temperature (Tp):17–22 °C and permeate flow rate (Qp): 80–180 mL/min. The model R-squared of 0.9759 (adjusted to degree-of-freedom), Lack-of-fit test (p = 0.4764), predicted residual error sum of squared (PRESS) statistic of 10.3 suggest that the model is adequate to correlate the impact of operating conditions on permeates. ANOVA analysis showed that factors as feed flow rate, feed temperature, and permeate temperature have a valuable impact (p ≤ 0.05) on the response variable. Additionally, the interaction among feed temperature-feed flow rate, feed flow rate-permeate flow rate, and the quadratic impact of feed temperature, permeate temperature, and permeate flow rate have shown an important impact (p ≤ 0.05) on the permeate flux. Optimization of operating conditions to make the permeate flux and salt rejection high as possible was determined according to desirability function approach. A desirability of 0.969 was achieved at a feed temperature of 58 °C, feed flow rate of 180 mL/min, permeate temperature of 18.8 °C, and permeate flow rate of 145.3 mL/min in which a permeate flux of 12.56 kg/m2h and a salt rejection of 99.97% was obtained.

Investigation on meta-polybenzimidazole blend with sulfonated PVdF-HFP proton conducting polymer electrolytes for HT-PEM fuel cell application

Sulfonated poly (Vinylidene Fluoride-co-hexafluoro propylene) (SPVdF-HFP) blended with varying concentrations of m-poly (Benzimidazole) (PBI) were prepared by solution casting techinque. The sulfonation of PVdF-HFP was carried out with fuming chlorosulfonic acid at 60 °C and the degree of sulfonation was found to be 2.48%. The addition of m-PBI into the hydrophilic sulfonated PVdF-HFP membrane has provided good chemical and thermal stability. And also the increases the physico-chemical characteristics such as the water uptake, ion exchange capacity and proton conductivity. An inter chain separation and specific interaction between the two polymers in the blends was observed by XRD and FT-IR analyses. The Fourier transform spectroscopy indicated the intense ionic bond between—SO3H and N-basic group. The 25% of m-PBI based blend polymer electrolyte gives high proton conductivity (5.72 × 10−3 S/cm) at 160 °C and also the thermal stability. The temperature dependent proton conductivity of the polymer electrolyte follows an Arrhenius relationship and Grotthuss mechanism and it shows hopping of ions in the polymer matrix. It is noticed that the addition of m-PBI in the sulfonated PVdF-HFP enhances the mechanical, thermal and proton conductivity, which are sufficiently better for the use in HT-PEM fuel cell applications.

Synthesis and characterization of porous poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoro propylene) (PVDF-co-HFP)/poly(aniline) (PANI)/graphene oxide (GO) ternary hybrid polymer electrolyte membrane

The poly(vinylidene co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) polymer has received a great attention as an alternative to the commercial separator in energy devices. Therefore, a ternary hybrid membrane PVDF-HFP/polyaniline (PANI)/graphene oxide (GO) (10 wt%, 25 wt%, and 40 wt%) was synthesized and characterized as a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) for lithium ion battery. The thermogravimetric (TGA) analysis and mechanical strength tests have carried out to see the potential of GO in alteration of mechanical and thermal properties of PVDF-HFP membrane; additionally, the scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), electrochemical stability, porosity, and electrolyte uptake have also performed to investigate the effect of GO addition on the performance of PVDF-HFP polymer matrix. The PVDF-HFP/PANI membrane has resulted in highest ionic conductivity of 1.04 × 10−3 mS cm−1, whereas, the GO addition has remarkably enhanced the reduced tensile strength of PVDF-HFP/PANI membrane from 2.8 MPa to 8.8 MPa. In addition, the presence of GO has found more impressive and resulted in the highest porosity of 89.5% and an excellent electrolyte uptake of 367.4% with PVDF-HFP/PANI/GO ternary PEM. Therefore, the proposed PVDF-HFP/PANI/GO ternary hybrid membrane can be applied as PEM or a separator in energy devices.