Abstract
Proton conducting polymeric gels as the electrolytes of electrochemical capacitors have been prepared by two different methods: 1) swelling a polymethacrylate-based polymer matrix in aqueous solutions of inorganic and organic acids, and 2) polymerizing complexes of anhydrous acids and prepolymers with organic plasticizer. The FT-IR spectra strongly suggest that the carbonyl groups in the polymer matrix interact with protons from the doped acids. High ionic (proton) conductivity in the range of $6\times10^{-4}-4\times10^{-2}\;S\;cm^{-1}$ was obtained at room temperature for the aqueous gels. The non-aqueous polymer complexes showed rather low ionic conductivity, but it was about $10^{-3}\;S\;cm^{-1}\;at\;70^{\circ}C$ for the $H_3PO_4$ doped polymer electrolyte. The mechanisms of ion (proton) conduction in the polymeric systems are discussed.