(Invited) High Conductivity, Stable Anion Conducting Membranes Based on Poly(norbornene)

Abstract

Alkaline exchange membranes (AEM) fuel cells and electrolyzers are potentially cost-saving alternatives to traditional proton exchange membrane (PEM) devices. Recently, anion conducting polymer membranes have achieved ionic conductivity and chemical stability comparable to Nafion, the current state of the art in PEM technology. Phase segregation is an effective way to achieving high hydroxide mobility. An all-carbon backbone with light cross-linking and a long, alkyl tether for the cation head-group are effective means of achieving chemical stability and limiting unwanted water hydration. In this study, a series of tetrablock copolymers containing an all-hydrocarbon backbone and tethered quaternary ammonium groups were synthesized based on vinyl addition polymerization of norbornene. Several variations of block copolymer AEMs with different ion exchange capacities (IEC) were made by adjusting the ratio of hydrophilic to hydrophobic blocks. Correlations were found between the ionic conductivity and mechanical properties to the polymer structure, channel size, and degree of phase separation. Furthermore, it was found that light crosslinking of the membranes allows for high IEC materials to be used while maintaining acceptable water uptake. The crosslinked AEMs have demonstrated record-high hydroxide conductivities (198 mS/cm) for a chemically stable polymer. The chemical degradation at 80oC in 1 M KOH was <1% degradation in 1,200 hours. The AEMs were also used to construct MEAs for alkaline fuel cells.