Structurally Modified Poly(vinyl alcohol) Ionic

Composites as Efficient Humidity Indicators

Adnan Mujahid,1 Adeel Afzal,2 Mirza Nadeem Ahmad,3 Muhammad Umar Farooq,1 Tajamal Hussain,1
Khurram Shehzad,1 Asma Tufail Shah1
1
Institute of Chemistry, University of the Punjab, Lahore 54590, Pakistan

2
Interdisciplinary Research Centre in Biomedical Materials, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology,
Lahore, Pakistan

3
Department of Chemistry, Government College University, Lahore 54000, Pakistan

Synthesis of structurally modified poly(vinyl alcohol) INTRODUCTION

(PVA) ionic composites is presented. Low-molecular-
weight PVA (Mn ¼ 18,000 g mol21) is prepared and
blended together with either copper or borate ions
under ambient conditions to yield PVA–Cu and PVA–B
ionic composites, respectively. The borate ions coa-
lesce together with different polymeric chains of PVA,
forming a 3D network structure, which is identified by
the weakening of " "OH absorption in the infrared spec-
trum. On the other hand, copper ions yield a weakly
crosslinked polyelectrolyte by forming a coordinated
complex with the hydroxyl groups of PVA, which leads
to an increase in the kmax value in the ultraviolet–visible
spectrum. The surface morphology of these PVA-based
ionic composites is studied via atomic force micros-
copy. Furthermore, the quantitative estimation of cop-
per in PVA–Cu composites is performed by atomic
absorption spectroscopy. Among these PVA ionic com-
posites, the PVA–Cu exhibits excellent moisture
absorption capability and dramatic changes in the
color of thin composite film, when exposed to 75% hu-
midity atmosphere. The absolute recovery, recyclability,
and stability of the PVA–Cu ionic composites not only
enable them to be good humidity indicators but the
results show that these composites can be employed
as efficient humidity-sensitive material on suitable
transducers for environmental and industrial applica-
tions. POLYM. COMPOS., 33:1018–1024, 2012. ª 2012 Society
of Plastics Engineers
Correspondence to: Adnan Mujahid; e-mail: adnanmujahid.chem@pu.
edu.pk
Khurram Shehzad is currently at Center for Nano and Micro Mechanics,
Tsinghua University, Beijing-100084, China
Contract grant sponsor: Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Paki-
stan; contract grant number: PM-IPFP/HRD/HEC/2011/0583.
DOI 10.1002/pc.22237
Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com).
C 2012 Society of Plastics Engineers
V sitive element in the surface acoustic wave resonator for
In recent years, polymeric composite materials have
attracted substantial interest owing to their exclusive opti-
cal, electrical, mechanical and magnetic properties, and
their numerous applications [1]. Polymeric materials can
be blended [2] with different agents including metal ions
[3], carbon nanotubes [4], nanoparticles [5], and a variety
of other polymers such as polyaniline [6], polyamide [7],
etc. These composite materials can be synthesized and
processed by a number of techniques including sol–gel
method, hydrogel formation, reversed micelles, and
others. Polymeric composite materials can be developed
into thin films via spin coating, spray coating, and Lang-
muir–Blodgett films and others that depend on their ulti-
mate application.
Ever since its discovery, poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) has
found wide spread applications [8] in different fields. The
physical properties of PVA such as the strength, water
solubility, gas permeability, and thermal characteristic
vary with the degree of crystallinity [9, 10] which is
heavily dependent on the degree of hydrolysis and the av-
erage molecular weight of the polymer. Partially hydro-
lyzed grades contain residual acetate groups, which are
known to reduce the overall degree of crystallinity. This
results in materials with lower strength and increased
water solubility with respect to the fully hydrolyzed
grades.
PVA composites [11, 12] have been the center of
advanced research to design novel materials with desired
features. These composites can be further tuned according
to interest. For an instance, PVA films modified with
Nafion [13] and silver ions [14] have been demonstrated
to exhibit substantial electrical and optical properties. In
addition, PVA thin films have been employed as the sen-

POLYMER COMPOSITES—-2012