High durable PEK-based anion exchange membrane for elevated temperature alkaline fuel cells

Anion Exchange Membranes Prepared from Quaternized Polyepichlorohydrin Cross-Linked with 1-(3-aminopropyl)imidazole Grafted Poly(arylene ether ketone) for Enhancement of Toughness and Conductivity

A novel anion exchange membrane was synthesized via crosslinking of the quaternized polyepichlorohydrin (QPECH) by 1-(3-aminopropyl) imidazole grafted poly(arylene ether ketone) (PAEK-API). While the QPECH provided an excellent ion conductive property, the rigid rod-structured PAEK-API played a reinforcing role, along with providing the high conductivity associated with the pendant API group. The chemical structure of QPECH/PAEK-API membranes was identified by ¹H nuclear magnetic resonace spectroscopy. A variety of membrane properties, such as anion conductivity, water uptake, length swelling percentage, and thermal, mechanical and chemical stability, were investigated. The QPECH/PAEK-API1 membrane showed quite high hydroxide ion conductivity, from 0.022 S cm⁻¹ (30 °C) to 0.033 S cm⁻¹ (80 °C), and excellent mechanical strength, associated with the low water uptake of less than 40%, even at 80 °C. Such high conductivity at relatively low water uptake is attributed to the concentrated cationic groups, in a cross-linked structure, facilitating feasible ion transport. Further, the QPECH/PAEK-API membranes showed thermal stability up to 250 °C, and chemical stability for 30 days in a 4 NaOH solution, without significant loss of ion exchange capacity.

Direct modification of polyketone resin for anion exchange membrane of alkaline fuel cells

A kind of side-chain type anion exchange membranes (AEMs) with high ionic conductivity and good comprehensive stability was prepared via direct modification of commercial engineering plastic polyketone with diamines through Paal-Knorr reaction and quaternization reaction. It was found that the amount of diamine can effectively tune the microphase morphology and properties of the prepared quaternized functionalized-polyketone anion exchange membranes (QAFPK-AEMs). The tensile strength was increased from 18.6 MPa to 38.6 MPa, and the ion exchange capacity (IEC) was increased from 1.11 mmol/g to 2.71 mmol/g depending on the amount of added diamine. The QAFPK-1-6-AEM with the IEC of 1.43 mmol/g showed the highest hydroxide conductivity of 65 mS/cm at 25 °C and 96.8 mS/cm at 80 °C. The high ionic conductivity was achieved through the establishment of effective ionic channels, and it maintained 70% of the initial ionic conductivity after the 192 h treatment in 2 mol/L KOH (aq) at 80 °C. Moreover, a peak power density of 129 mW/cm² was achieved when the assembled single cell with QAFPK-1-6-AEM was operated at 50 °C. Thus, the prepared QAFPK-AEMs showed great potential applications for the anion exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs).

Ether cleavage-triggered degradation of benzyl alkylammonium cations for polyethersulfone anion exchange membranes

Anion exchange membranes are of increasing interest due to their applications in many electrochemical devices such as solid-state alkaline fuel cells.

Alkyl bisimidazolium-mediated crosslinked comb-shaped polymers as highly conductive and stable anion exchange membranes

Crosslinked poly(arylene ether sulfone)s (PES) with pendant alkyl bisimidazolium units, which act as both crosslinkage sites and hydroxide conductors, were developed as anion exchange membranes (AEMs).

Robust Hydroxide Ion Conducting Poly(biphenyl alkylene)s for Alkaline Fuel Cell Membranes

High molecular weight, quaternary ammonium-tethered poly(biphenyl alkylene)s without alkaline labile C-O bonds were synthesized via acid-catalyzed polycondensation reactions for the first time. Ion-exchange capacity was conveniently controlled by adjusting the feed ratio of two ketone monomers in the polymerization. The resultant anion exchange membranes showed high hydroxide ion conductivity up to 120 mS/cm and excellent alkaline stability at 80 °C. This study provides a new synthetic strategy for the preparation of anion exchange membranes with robust fuel cell performance and excellent stability.

Permethyl Cobaltocenium (Cp*2Co+) as an Ultra-Stable Cation for Polymer Hydroxide-Exchange Membranes

Hydroxide (OH(-))-exchange membranes (HEMs) are important polymer electrolytes enabling the use of affordable and earth-abundant electrocatalysts for electrochemical energy-conversion devices such as HEM fuel cells, HEM electrolyzers, and HEM solar hydrogen generators. Many HEM cations exist, featuring desirable properties, but new cations are still needed to increase chemical stability at elevated temperatures. Here we introduce the permethyl cobaltocenium [(C5Me5)2Co(III)(+) or Cp(*)2Co(+)] as an ultra-stable organic cation for polymer HEMs. Compared with the parent cobaltocenium [(C5H5)2Co(III)(+) or Cp2Co(+)], Cp(*)2Co(+) has substantially higher stability and basicity. With polysulfone as an example, we demonstrated the feasibility of covalently linking Cp(*)2Co(+) cation to polymer backbone and prepared Cp(*)2Co(+)-functionalized membranes as well. The new cation may be useful in designing more durable HEM electrochemical devices.

Quaternized graphene oxide nanocomposites as fast hydroxide conductors

Nanocomposites play a key role in performance improvements of hydroxide conductors employed in a wide range of alkaline-electrochemical systems such as fuel cells and metal-air batteries. Graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets are considered to be outstanding nanofillers for polymeric nanocomposites on account of their excellent physicochemical strength and electrochemical properties. In this work, a fast hydroxide conductor was developed on the basis of a chemically modified GO nanocomposite membrane. The high surface area of GO was functionalized with highly stable hydroxide-conductive groups using a dimethyloctadecyl [3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl]ammonium chloride (DMAOP) precursor, named QAFGO, and then composed with porous polybenzimidazole PBI (pPBI) as a well-suited polymeric backbone. The nanocomposite exhibited outstanding hydroxide conductivity of 0.085 S cm(-1), high physicochemical strength, and electrochemical stability for 21 days. An alkaline fuel cell (AFC) setup was fabricated to determine the functionality of QAFGO/pPBI nanocomposite in an alkaline-based system. The high AFC performance with peak power density of 86.68 mW cm(-2) demonstrated that QAFGO/pPBI nanocomposite membrane has promising potential to be employed as a reliable hydroxide conductor for electrochemical systems working in alkaline conditions.

A review on recent developments of anion exchange membranes for fuel cells and redox flow batteries

This review covers recent advancements and future perspectives of AEMs for energy conversion and storage systems such as fuel cells and redox flow batteries.

A quaternized mesoporous silica/polysulfone composite membrane for an efficient alkaline fuel cell application

Mesoporous silica (SBA-15) was synthesized and quaternized. Composite membrane was fabricated using QSBA/QPsu and its performance was evaluated in alkaline fuel cell.

Anion exchange membranes by bromination of benzylmethyl-containing poly(arylene ether)s for alkaline membrane fuel cells

Fast and safe fabrication of anion exchange membranes started with the bromination of poly(arylene ether)s containing tetramethyl triphenyl methane moieties.

A dication cross-linked composite anion-exchange membrane for all-vanadium flow battery applications

We report the fabrication and properties of a high-performance, inexpensive, composite, anion-exchange membrane (AEM) for an all-vanadium flow battery (VFB) application. The AEM was fabricated by dication cross-linking without the involvement of trimethylamine, and shows well-balanced anion conductivity and robustness due to imidazolium and imidazolium-ammonium functionalities, as well as a concomitantly achieved semi-interpenetrating network structure. The VFB single cell yielded a Coulombic efficiency of 99 % and an energy efficiency of 84 % at 80 mA cm(-2) , and operated for over 900 charge/discharge cycles. This work demonstrates the combined use of several favorable AEM design rationales, such as incorporating abundant and efficient anion-exchange groups, constructing a swelling- and oxidation-resistant structure, and facile fabrication; it provides an effective way of developing high-performance, low-cost AEMs for VFB applications.

Novel quaternized poly(arylene ether sulfone)/Nano-ZrO₂ composite anion exchange membranes for alkaline fuel cells

A series of composite anion exchange membranes based on novel quaternized poly(arylene ether sulfone)/nanozirconia (QPAES/nano-ZrO₂) composites are prepared using a solution casting method. The QPAES/nano-ZrO₂ composite membranes are characterized by FTIR, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM/EDX). The ion exchange capacity (IEC), water uptake, swelling ratio, hydroxide ion conductivity, mechanical properties, thermal stability, and chemical stability of the composite membranes are measured to evaluate their applicability in fuel cells. The introduction of nano-ZrO₂ induces the crystallization of the matrix and enhances the IEC of the composite membranes. The modification with nano-ZrO₂ improves water uptake, dimension stability, hydroxide ion conductivity, mechanical properties, and thermal and chemical stabilities of the composite membranes. The QPAES/nano-ZrO₂ composite membranes show hydroxide ion conductivities over 25.7 mS cm⁻¹ at a temperature above 60 °C. Especially, the QPAES/nano-ZrO₂ composite membranes with the nano-ZrO₂ content above 7.5% display hydroxide ion conductivities over 41.4 mS cm⁻¹ at 80 °C. The E(a) values of the QPAES/nano-ZrO₂ composite membranes with the nano-ZrO₂ content above 5% are lower than 11.05 kJ mol⁻¹. The QPAES/7.5% nano-ZrO₂ composite membrane displays the lowest E(a) value and the best comprehensive properties and constitutes a good potential candidate for alkaline fuel cells.

Synthesis and properties of anion conductive ionomers containing tetraphenyl methane moieties

A series of anion conductive aromatic ionomers, poly(arylene ether)s containing various polymer backbones and quaternary ammonium basic group functioned tetraphenyl methane moieties, were synthesized via nucleophilic substitution polycondensation, chloromethylation, quaternization, and the subsequent alkalization reactions. The structures of poly(arylene ether)s (PAEs), chloromethylated poly(arylene ether)s (CMPAEs), and quaternizated poly(arylene ether)s (QPAEs) ionomers were confirmed by (1)H NMR technique. Their thermal stabilities were evaluated by thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA). The water uptakes, ion exchange capacities (IEC), hydroxide ion conductivities, mechanical properties, and chemical stabilities of the membranes derived from the synthesized ionomers were assessed as anion exchange membranes. The QPAEs membranes were tough and thermally stable up to 170 °C. The IEC of the ionomers varied from 0.21 to 2.38 meq g(-1) which can be controlled by chloromethylation reaction conditions. The ion conductivities of QPAEs membranes increase dramatically with increasing temperature. The hydroxide ion transport activation energy, Ea, of the QPAEs membranes varied from 13.18 to 42.30 kJ mol(-1). The QPAE-d membrane with lower IEC value of 1.04 meq g(-1), derived from copolymer CMPAE-d bearing sulfone/ketone structure, displayed the highest hydroxide ion conductivity of 75 mS cm(-1) at 80 °C and showed strong tensile strength (29.2 MPa) at 25 °C. The QPAE-e membrane with IEC value of 1.09 meq g(-1), derived from copolymer CMPAE-e bearing sulfone/ketone-ketone structure, demonstrated 68 mS cm(-1) at 80 °C. The QPAE-d membrane kept 90% of mechanical properties and 82% of hydroxide ion conductivity after being conditioned with 1 M NaOH at 60 °C for 170 h. These properties of the ionomers membranes show their potential as an anion exchange membrane of alkaline fuel cells.