Study on the partially cross-linked poly(styrene-b-(ethylene-co-butylene)-b-styrene) anion exchange membrane remotely (spaced hexyl) grafted double cation separated by different alkyl groups

In order to improve the alkali stability and OH⁻ conductivity of Poly (styrene-b-(ethylene-co-butylene)-b-styrene) (SEBS)-based anion exchange membranes (AEMs), double cations with different alkyl intervals are remotely grafted onto the SEBS skeleton with hexyl as a linker through reactions such as acylation and ketone reduction. Then, SEBS-0.8Cn-0.2C6 cross-linked membranes were prepared to study the effect of the length of the alkyl chain between the dications on the ion transport and other properties. The OH⁻ conductivity of SEBS-0.8C4-0.2C6 cross-linked membrane can reach 85.27 mS cm⁻¹ at 80 °C, and the peak power density can reach 225 mW cm⁻² at a current density of 450 mA cm⁻². As the dicationic spacer alkyl chains became longer, the swelling rate and water uptake of the membranes increased, resulting in significant improvements in mechanical properties and chemical stability. After soaking in 2 M NaOH solution at 80 °C for 1200 h, the conductivity of SEBS-0.8C6-0.2C6 decreased by only 5.76%. Optimizing the side chain structure of SEBS skeleton can effectively improve the comprehensive performance of AEM.     

Pendent piperidinium-functionalized blend anion exchange membrane for fuel cell application

Alkaline anion exchange membrane fuel cell has fast cathode reactions and thus allows the use of low cost electrocatalysts. However, its practical application is hindered by the low hydroxide ion conductivity and alkaline stability of AEM. In this study, pendent piperidinium functionalized polyetheretherketone is synthesized and blended with polybenzimidazole for fabrication of composite anion exchange membrane. The pendent piperidinium functionalized side chains can create well-connected ionic transporting channels and thus impart the blend membranes high hydroxide conductivity (61.5–72.8 mS cm⁻¹ at 80 °C) and good tensile strength (42.8–58.9 MPa). Due to the strong interactions between polybenzimidazole and piperidinium groups of the polymers as confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, the piperidinium functionalized blend anion exchange membrane can retain 95% of its original OH⁻ conductivity value when treated in 1 M KOH at 60 °C for 576 h. The single fuel cell assembled with the membrane can yield a peak power density of 87 mW cm⁻² at 80 °C. Our work provides a new and effective method to balance the hydroxide conductivity and alkaline stability of anion exchange membranes.     

Improved conductivity and stability of anion exchange membranes by introducing steric hindrance and crosslinked structure

The alternating copolymer based on poly (ether ether ketone) (PEEK) is synthesized with ordered side chain. A series of novel anion exchange membranes grafte with the 1, 2-dimethylimidazole and 1-vinylimidazole are obtained. The copolymer was verified by ¹H NMR and the crosslinked membranes are further investigated by solvability test. The ordered hydrophilic side chains form well-defined microphase separation structure, which are proved by Transmission electron micrographs microscopy (TEM). The ionic conductivity is 0.075 S/cm at 80 °C of Im-PEEK-0 uncross-linked membrane. With the addition of 1-vinylimidazole, the maximum stress increases to 66.57 MPa, the water uptake drop to 17.1% and swelling ratio drop to 14.8% at 80 °C of Im-PEEK-0.3 membrane. The hydroxide conductivity remains 82.8% in 2 mol L⁻¹ NaOH solution at 60 °C for 400 h. Meanwhile, all the membranes exhibit excellent thermal stability. Overall, the ordered imidazolium-functionalized side chains provide a method to balance hydroxide conductivity and alkali stability of anion exchange membranes.     

Highly durable and conductive poly(arylene piperidine) with a long heterocyclic ammonium side-chain for hydroxide exchange membranes

Recently, the preparation of hydroxide exchange membranes (HEMs) without ether bonds have attracted much attention because of their high chemical stability. Hence, ether-bond free, highly durable, and conductive poly(arylene piperidine)s (PAPips) tethered with heterocyclic ammonium via hexyl spacer chains were prepared successfully for HEMs via a facile synthetic procedure. The effect of the cationic groups (quaternary ammonium, piperidinium, and morpholinium) on the properties of the corresponding PAPip-based HEMs, including the morphology, hydroxide conductivity, and alkaline and chemical stability were systematically investigated. The as-designed PAPip-based membranes exhibited excellent overall performance. The membranes attached with piperidinium (IEC = 1.64 mmol g⁻¹) exhibited a hydroxide conductivity of 0.082 S cm⁻¹ at 80 °C and exhibited significant alkaline stability which maintained 80.1% of its conductivity after immersion in 1 M NaOH at 80 °C for 1500 h. The as-prepared membrane also presented a peak power density of 76 mW cm⁻² at 80 °C in a H₂/O₂ HEMFC. The resulting HEMs also showed excellent mechanical properties, thermal stability, and well-defined phase separation.     

Anion exchange membranes based on poly (ether ether ketone) containing N-spirocyclic quaternary ammonium cations in phenyl side chain

It was reported that the existence of N-spirocyclic quaternary ammonium (QA) cation could improve alkaline stability of anion exchange membrane materials (AEM). Therefore, the cyclo-quaternization reaction with pyrrolidine (Pyr) and piperidine (Pip) was carried out to prepare quaternized poly (ether ether ketone)s bearing five-membered and six-membered N-spirocyclic quaternary ammonium (QA) groups in the phenyl side chains (QPEEK-spiro-pyr and QPEEK-spiro-pip), respectively. From the transmission electron microscope, the hydrophilic-hydrophobic phase-separated morphology was formed in QPEEK-spiro membranes after incorporating N-spirocyclic QA cations and bulky spacer simultaneously in the phenyl side chain. The effect of N-spirocyclic QA groups on performance of resulted AEMs was then studied in detail. The anion conductivities of QPEEK-spiro-pyr and QPEEK-spiro-pip in OH^? form at 80 °C were 49.6 and 30.9 S cm^?1, respectively. The remaining proportions of hydroxide conductivity for QPEEK-spiro-pyr and QPEEK-spiro-pip membranes after immersing in 1 M NaOH at 60 °C were 81.0% and 74.7%, respectively, which were higher than that of 62.3% for QPEEK-TMA containing conventional QA groups in the phenyl side chain. Fuel cell assembled with QPEEK-spiro-pyr achieves a peak power density of 90 mW cm^?2. These results indicate the strategy of simultaneously introducing N-spirocyclic QA cations and bulky spacers can improve the performance of AEM to a certain extent. There are some other factors that influence the alkaline stability of the prepared AEMs, such as the existence of ether bonds in the main chain. However, this work still provides a valuable reference towards the molecular design of AEMs with improved performance.     

Enhanced alkaline stability and performance of alkali‐doped quaternized poly(vinyl alcohol) membranes for passive direct ethanol fuel cell

Direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFCs) emerge as the new research energy field since fast production of electricity, high efficiency conversion, and simple fabrication process. The production cost, conductivity properties, and ethanol permeability of membrane were the main problem that limited the DEFC performance and commercialization. In this study, a low cost, good ionic conductivity and low ethanol permeability of an anion exchange membrane based on incorporation KOH‐doped quaternized poly(vinyl alcohol) (QPVA) membrane (designed as QPVA/KOH) is synthesized and cross‐linked with glutaraldehyde solution. The membrane is expected to cut the production cost and enhance the performance. In this work, an optimum of alkali‐doped concentration has influence the membrane performance. The membrane has reveal high chemical stability even doped with 8‐M KOH solution in 100°C. The morphology of membranes remained unbreakable and achieved high range of ionic conductivity (~10^?2 S cm^?1). The membranes present maximum ionic conductivity 1.29 × 10^?2 S cm^?1 at 30°C and 3.07 × 10^?2 S cm^?1 at 70°C. The ethanol permeability of membrane is lower compared with the commercial membranes. Power density of alkaline DEFCs with platinum‐based catalyst by using cross‐linked QPVA/KOH membrane is 5.88 mW cm^?2, which is higher than commercial membranes at 30°C temperature. At 70°C, power density has increased up to 11.28 mW cm^?2 and significantly increased up to 22.82 mW cm^?2 via the nonplatinum‐based catalyst. Moreover, according to the durability test, the performance of passive alkaline DEFC by using cross‐linked QPVA/KOH membrane has maintained at 36.2% level. With such efficiency, the stack current density has been able to stay above 120 mA cm^?2 for over 1000 hours, at 70°C.     

High alkaline stability and long-term durability of imidazole functionalized poly(ether ether ketone) by incorporating graphene oxide/metal-organic framework complex

The poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK) was prepared as organic matrix. ZIF-8 and GO/ZIF-8 were used as fillers. A series of novel new anion exchange membranes (AEMs) were fabricated with imidazole functionalized PEEK and GO/ZIF-8. The structure of ZIF-8, GO/ZIF-8 and polymers are verified by ¹H NMR, FT-IR and SEM. This series of hybrid membranes showed good thermal stability, mechanical properties and alkaline stability. The ionic conductivities of hybrid membranes are in the range of 39.38 mS cm^?1–43.64 mS cm^?1 at 30 °C, 100% RH and 59.21 mS cm^?1–86.87 mS cm^?1 at 80 °C, 100% RH, respectively. Im-PEEK/GO/ZIF-8-1% which means the mass percent of GO/ZIF-8 compound in Im-PEEK polymers is 1%, showed the higher ionic conductivity of 86.87 mS cm^?1 at 80 °C and tensile strength (38.21 MPa) than that of pure membrane (59.21 mS cm^?1 at 80 °C and 19.47 MPa). After alkaline treatment (in 2 M NaOH solution at 60 °C for 400 h), the ionic conductivity of Im-PEEK/GO/ZIF-8-1% could also maintain 92.01% of the original ionic conductivity. The results show that hybrid membranes possess the ability to coordinate trade-off effect between ionic conductivity and alkaline stability of anion exchange membranes. The excellent performances make this series of hybrid membranes become good candidate for application as AEMs in fuel cells.     

Bis-pyridinium crosslinked poly(ether ether ketone) anion exchange membranes with enhancement of hydroxide conductivity and alkaline stability

A series of tunable bis-pyridinium crosslinked PEEK-BiPy-x anion exchange membranes (AEMs) are prepared successfully to improve the “trade-off” between ionic conductivity and alkaline stability. The crosslinking density of bis-pyridinium is optimized to promote microphase separation and guarantee the free volume. All the PEEK-BiPy-x membranes have a distinct microphase separation pattern observed by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and the PEEK-BiPy-x membranes also display adequate thermal, mechanical and dimensional stability. Impressively, the PEEK-BiPy-0.5 membrane exhibits maximum tensile strength (58.53 MPa) and highest IEC of 1.316 mmol·g^?1. Meanwhile, its hydroxide conductivity reaches up to 70.86 mS·cm^?1 at 80 °C. Besides, great alkaline stability of PEEK-BiPy-0.5 membrane is obtained with conductivity retention of 91.74% after 1440 h in 1 M NaOH solution, owing to the crosslinked structure of the AEMs and steric effect of bis-pyridinium cations. Overall, the PEEK-BiPy-x membranes possess potential applications in AEMs.     

Imidazolium functionalized block copolymer anion exchange membrane with enhanced hydroxide conductivity and alkaline stability via tailoring side chains

To develop polymer electrolyte membrane with both high hydroxide conductivity and good alkaline stability, series of poly(arylene ether sulfone)s block copolymers bearing varied imidazolium functionalized aromatic pendants are synthesized, and the relationship between ionic pendants and the membrane properties are investigated and discussed. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) results suggest that, the well-controlled block copolymers and pendent aromatic chain structures are responsible for the formation of the well-defined microphase-separated morphology which is benefit to construct highly conductive ionic transport channels in membrane. The membranes tethering longer imidazolium functionalized aromatic pendants (Im-DFDM-bPES) exhibit large hydroxide conductivity than those bearing shorter ones (Im-DFDB-bPES) in spite of their comparable IEC values, this is in accordance with their sizes of hydrophilic domains in membrane. Among the membranes, Im-DFDM-bPES-x7y32 with IEC of 1.30 mequiv g^?1 gives the highest hydroxide conductivity (34.2 and 98.7 mS cm^?1 at 25 and 80 °C, respectively). Besides, both Im-DFDM-bPES and Im-DFDB-bPES membranes exhibit high alkaline stability after aging under severe conditions (4 M NaOH at 80 °C) for 144 h, where the aged Im-DFDM-bPES and Im-DFDB-bPES give hydroxide conductivity remaining by 74.8%–77.2% and 64.5%–66.4%, mechanical properties with maximum stress of 47.36–51.30 MPa and 60.03–62.28 MPa, respectively, indicating good chemical stability of both imidazolium moiety and block copolymer backbone.     

Dense 1,2,4,5-tetramethylimidazolium-functionlized anion exchange membranes based on poly(aryl ether sulfone)s with high alkaline stability for water electrolysis

Anion exchange membranes with enough alkaline stability and ionic conductivity are essential for water electrolysis. In this work, a class of anion exchange membranes (PAES-TMI-x) with dense 1,2,4,5-tetramethylimidazolium side chains based on poly(aryl ether sulfone)s are prepared by aromatic nucleophilic polycondensation, radical substitution and Menshutkin reaction. Their chemical structure and hydrophilic/hydrophobic phase morphology are characterized by hydrogen nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H NMR) and atomic force microscope (AFM), respectively. The water uptake, swelling ratio and ionic conductivity for PAES-TMI-x are in the range of 23.8%–48.3%, 8.3%–14.3% and 18.22–96.31 mS/cm, respectively. These AEMs exhibit high alkaline stability, and the ionic conductivity for PAES-TMI-0.25 remains 86.8% after soaking in 2 M NaOH solution at 80 °C for 480 h. The current density of 1205 mA/cm² is obtained for the water electrolyzer equipped with PAES-TMI-0.25 in 2 M NaOH solution at 2.0 V and 80 °C, and the electrolyzer also has good operation stability at current density of 500 mA/cm². This work is expected to provide a valuable reference for the selection and design of cations in high-performance AEMs for water electrolysis.     

Enhanced proton conductivity of poly (arylene ether ketone sulfone) containing uneven sulfonic acid side chains by incorporating imidazole functionalized metal-organic framework

In this study, the side-chain type hybrid proton exchange membranes which based on metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and organic matrix of sulfonated poly (arylene ether ketone sulfone) containing both long and short sulfonic acid side chains (S-C-SPAEKS) were prepared. MOF-801 was used as a template and then imidazole was encapsulated into MOF-801 as additional proton carriers. In imidazole -MOF-801, imidazole was used as a functional group to coordinate with the zirconium metal site of the functional group. Imidazole-MOF-801 and hybrid membranes were characterized by XRD, ¹H NMR and FT-IR. These hybrid membranes exhibited excellent proton conductivities and good thermal stabilities. Compared to pure S-C-SPAEKS (0.0487 S cm^?1 at 30 °C, 0.0809 S cm^?1 at 80 °C), S-C-SPAEKS/0.5% Im-MOF-801 showed a great improvement (0.1205 S cm^?1 at 30 °C, 0.1992 S cm^?1 at 80 °C), which was about 2.5 times higher than that of pure S-C-SPAEKS and 2 times higher than that of commercial Nafion117 (0.1003 S cm^?1 at 80 °C). The results indicated that imidazole functionalized MOFs and uneven side chain structure synergistically made an important contribution to proton transport. This series of hybrid membranes have the potential to be used as alternative proton exchange membranes.     

Mechanically robust semi-interpenetrating polymer network via thiol-ene chemistry with enhanced conductivity for anion exchange membranes

Anion exchange membranes (AEMs) have emerged as crucial functional materials in various electrochemical device, such as fuel cell. Both the mechanical property and ionic conductivity play important roles in AEMs. Herein, a series of semi-interpenetrating polymer network AEMs are prepared by introducing flexible polyvinyl alcohol to the rigid photo-crosslinked poly (2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) network. Such strategy endows AEM with tunable composition and mechanical property. Among these AEMs, membrane with an IEC of 1.46 mmol/g shows the highest mechanical strength of 30.8 MPa and a relatively lower swelling ratio, as well as the highest hydroxide conductivity. Importantly, the alkaline stability of these AEMs has been improved, 66.5% of the hydroxide conductivity is maintained after treatment in 1 M NaOH at 80 °C for 1000 h. Tentative assembly of H₂/O₂ fuel cell at 60 °C with this AEM displays a peak power density of 78 mW/cm². All the results demonstrate that sIPN structure is a promising way to enhance the mechanical property, ionic conductivity, and the alkaline stability of AEMs for the future application in AEMFCs.     

A novel strategy for constructing a highly conductive and swelling-resistant semi-flexible aromatic polymer based anion exchange membranes

A novel strategy was proposed to construct a bicontinuous hydrophilic/hydrophobic micro-phase separation structure which is crucial for high hydroxide conductivity and good dimensional stability anion exchange membranes (AEMs). A semi-flexible poly (aryl ether sulfone) containing a flexible aliphatic chain in the polymer backbone with imidazolium cationic group was synthesized by the polycondensation of bis(4-fluorophenyl) sulfone and the self-synthesized 4,4′-[butane-1,4-diylbis(oxy)] diphenol followed by a two-step functionalization. The corresponding membranes were prepared by solution casting. More continuous hydroxide conducting channels were formed in the semi-flexible polymer membranes compared with the rigid based ones as demonstrated by TEM. As a result, given the same swelling ratio, hydroxide conductivity of the semi-flexible polymer membrane was about 2-fold higher than the one of the rigid polymer based membrane (e.g., 45 vs. 22 mS cm^?1 with the same swelling ratio of 24% at 20 °C). The highest achieved conductivity for the semi-flexible polymer membranes at 60 °C was 93 mS cm^?1, which was much higher those of other random poly (aryl ether sulfone) based imidazolium AEMs (27–81 mS cm^?1). The single cell employing the semi-flexible polymer membrane exhibited a maximum power density of 125 mW cm^?2 which was also higher than those for other random poly (aryl ether sulfone) based imidazolium AEMs (16–105.2 mW cm^?2).     

Mussel-inspired strategy towards functionalized reduced graphene oxide-crosslinked polysulfone-based anion exchange membranes with enhanced properties

Chemical crosslinking is regard as an effective method to balance the ionic conductivity and dimensional stability of anion exchange membranes (AEMs). In this work, a series of crosslinked AEM composite membranes based on polydopamine-functionalized reduced graphene oxide (PDArGO) were constructed from quaternized polysulfone (QPSU) with amino groups via mussel-inspired chemistry strategy. On the one hand, as the dopant, the hydrogen bonding interaction between PDArGO and a large number of amino groups on the side chains of QPSU can enhance the water uptake of the membranes and has a positive influence on the ionic conductivity of composite membranes. On the other hand, PDArGO also acts as the crosslinker, which can form a micro-crosslinked structure with the amino groups on the side chains of the polymer through the Michael addition/schiff base reactions. Under the combined influence of the above two factors, the crosslinked composite AEMs exhibited special delightful properties. In general, the crosslinking reaction will lead to the decrease of the ionic conductivity of the membranes, but as for the membranes prepared by us, the ionic conductivity had been improved to some extent. Especially, the QPSU-1.5%-PDArGO exhibited 57% improvement in the hydroxide conductivity than that of pure QPSU membrane and reached the highest value of 61 mS cm^?1 at 80 °C. Besides, the crosslinked membranes also exhibited strong dimensional stability, good mechanical strength, comparable alkaline stability and improved methanol permeability.     

Anion exchange membranes of bis-imidazolium cation crosslinked poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4- phenylene oxide) with enhanced alkaline stability

Partially crosslinked anion exchange membranes (AEMs) with imidazolium-based cationic functionalities were fabricated based on a poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) (PPO) matrix. The PPO was activated by bromomethylation and functionalized with methylimidazole and 1,4-bis(imidazolyl)butane at different ratios through a gentle and facile heat curing method. The use of 1,4-bis(imidazolyl)butane resulted in a membrane with cationic functionalities incorporated in covalent crosslinks, which allowed for high ion exchange capacities (IECs) without compromising on mechanical robustness. Comprehensive characterizations were performed in terms of thermal stability, water uptake, IEC, swelling, conductivity, mechanical properties and alkaline stability to investigate the correlation of the structure and physicochemical properties. Comparing with the un-crosslinked imidazolium PPO membrane, crosslinked membranes exhibited improved mechanical robustness and alkaline stabilities. The membrane with a crosslinking degree of 10% displayed an IEC of around 1.5 mmol g⁻¹, tensile strength of 4.1 MPa, hydroxide ion conductivity of 40.5 mS cm⁻¹, and a retained ratio in conductivity of 40% after tolerance test of nearly 150 h in 1 mol L⁻¹ KOH (aq.) at 60 °C.     

Facile self-crosslinking to improve mechanical and durability of polynorbornene for alkaline anion exchange membranes

Crosslinking is a valid approach to enhance the mechanical and durability performance of anion exchange membranes (AEMs). Herein, a facile and effective self-crosslinking strategy, with no need for an additional crosslinker or a catalyzer, is proposed. A series of tunable self-crosslinking and ion conduction polynorbornene membranes are designed. The 5-norbornene-2-methylene glycidyl ether (NB-MGE) component which affords self-crosslinking enhances dimensional stability, while the flexible 5-norbornene-2-alkoxy-1-hexyl-3-methyl imidazolium chloride (NB-O-Im⁺Cl⁻) hydrophilic unit contributes high conductivity. The crosslinking significantly decreases the water uptake, and water swelling ratio provides excellent solvent-resistance and enhances the thermal and mechanical properties. Additionally, crosslinked rPNB-O-Im-x AEMs exhibit desirable alkaline stability. Impressively, the rPNB-O-Im-30 (IEC = 1.377) shows a moderate ion conductivity (61.8 m S cm⁻¹, 80 °C), with a suppressed water absorption and 88.17% initial OH⁻ conductivity is maintained after treated for 240 h with a 1.0 M NaOH solution at 60 °C. Suitably assessed of rPNB-O-Im-30 AEM reveals a 98.4 mW cm⁻² peak power density reached at a current density of about 208 mA cm⁻². The report offers a facile and effectual preparative technique for preparing dimensional and alkaline stable AEMs for fuel cells applications.     

Block poly(arylene ether nitrile ketone)s with comb-shaped alkyl chains as anion exchange membranes

A new approach is presented here for constructing higher-performance anion exchange membranes (AEMs) by combining block-type and comb-shaped architectures. A series of quaternization fluorene-containing block poly (arylene ether nitrile ketone)s (QFPENK-m-n) were synthesized by varying the length of hydrophobic segment as AEMs. The well-designed architecture, which involved grafting comb-shaped C10 long alkyl side chains onto the block-type main chains, formed efficient ion-transport channels, as confirmed by atomic force microscopy. As a result, the AEMs showed high hydroxide conductivities in the range of 34.3–102.1 mS⋅cm⁻¹ from 30 to 80 °C at moderate ion exchange capacities (IECs). Moreover, the hydrophobic segment with nitrile groups also exhibited a profound anti-swelling property for the AEMs, resulting in ultralow swelling ratios ranging from 4.7% to 7.1% at 30 °C and 7.5%–9.8% at 80 °C, as well as superb conductivity-to-swelling ratios at 80 °C. In addition, the AEMs displayed good mechanical properties, thermal and oxidative stability, and optimizable alkaline stability.     

High chemical stability anion exchange membrane based on poly(aryl piperidinium): Effect of monomer configuration on membrane properties

In recent years, ether-free polyaryl polymers prepared by superacid-catalyzed Friedel-Crafts polymerization have attracted great research interest in the development of anion exchange membranes(AEMs) due to their high alkali resistance and simple synthesis methods. However, the selection of monomers for high-performance polymer backbone and the relationship between polymer structure construction and properties need further investigated. Herein, a series of free-ether poly(aryl piperidinium) (PAP) with different polymer backbone steric construction were synthesized as stable anion exchange membranes. Meta-terphenyl, p-terphenyl and diphenyl-terphenyl copolymer were chosen as monomers to regulate the spatial arrangement of the polymer backbone, which tethered with stable piperidinium cation to improve the chemical stability. In addition, a multi-cation crosslinking strategy has been applied to improve ion conductivity and mechanical stability of AEMs, and further compared with the performance of uncrosslinked AEMs. The properties of the resulting AEMs were investigated and correlated with their polymer structure. In particular, m-terphenyl based AEMs exhibited better dimensional stability and the highest hydroxide conductivity of 144.2 mS/cm at 80 °C than other membranes, which can be attributed to their advantages of polymer backbone arrangement. Furthermore, the hydroxide conductivity of the prepared AEMs remains 80%–90% after treated by 2 M NaOH for 1600 h, exhibiting excellent alkaline stability. The single cell test of m-PTP-20Q4 exhibits a maximum power density of 239 mW/cm² at 80 °C. Hence, the results may guide the selection of polymer monomers to improve performance and alkaline durability for anion exchange membranes.     

Self-crosslinked alkaline electrolyte membranes based on quaternary ammonium poly (ether sulfone) for high-performance alkaline fuel cells

Novel self-crosslinked alkaline electrolyte membranes with high hydroxide ion conductivity, excellent dimensional stability and extraordinary solvent resistance stability are synthesized successfully without using any catalyst or separate crosslinker. Monitored by ¹H NMR analysis, the synthetic process of trimethyl poly (ether sulfone)-methylene quaternary ammonium hydroxide (TPQAOH) is found to be simple and efficient. The chemical and thermal stability of the synthetic SCL-TPQAOH-x membranes are better than other anion exchange membranes. At the same time, the hydroxide ion conductivity of SCL-TPQAOH-0.67 membrane reaches 33 mS cm⁻¹ with an IEC value of 1.07 mmol g⁻¹ at 80 °C, which complies with the requirements of alkaline fuel cells. This investigation also proves that self-crosslinking technology is a very simple and effective approach in improving the performance of alkaline electrolyte membranes.     

Chemically modified poly(arylene ether ketone)s with pendant imidazolium groups: Anion exchange membranes for alkaline fuel cells

Anion exchange membranes (AEMs) with high stability are prepared for alkaline fuel cells using poly(arylene ether ketone)s (PAEKs) containing pendant imidazolium groups (via a direct step-growth polycondensation reaction). ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H NMR) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy are used to analyze the chemical structure of the prepared PAEK membranes. The anion conductivity, water uptake and swelling ratio, thermal, mechanical, and chemical stability of these membranes are investigated for PAEK membranes with different 1-(3-aminopropyl)imidazole (API) molar ratios (PAEK-API-x) in details. The anion conductivity of PAEK-API-x membranes increases with increasing molar ratio of API. The membrane with API 1.5 equiv. displays the highest anion conductivity (0.0053–0.0531 S cm^?1 from 30 °C to 80 °C). All prepared membranes show good chemical and mechanical stability as well as thermal stability up to 250 °C. This high anion conductivity with good thermal, mechanical, and chemical stability of the membrane show potential advantage to meet the demands for AEMs.