Modification of proton pump membrane using polyvinylpyrrolidone (pvp) for potential total alkalinity sensing

Total alkalinity is one of the important parameter in the regulation of seawater carbonate chemistry system to determine the capacity of water to neutralize acid. In this paper, a new proton pump membrane was successfully modified using polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as a supporting material due to its excellent chemical properties. The surface morphology of the membrane was thoroughly studied using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), which showed the presence of pore structure, ascribed to the presence of low molecular weight of PVP. The absorption of membrane was studied using Ultraviolet-Visible (UV-Vis) spectrophotometer, where the peak appeared at 539 nm-1. The functional group of the modified membrane was analyzed using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), and the spectra showed almost similar between modified membrane with PVP and without PVP. The electrochemical behaviour of the membrane was evaluated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) using gold (Au) electrode and the resulting voltammogram showed that the modified membrane with PVP has higher current reading compared to the membrane without PVP, indicating that there is redox reaction occured during the immobilization. The condition and perfomance of modified proton pump membrane with PVP was compared and analyzed.