Preparation and characterization of organic-inorganic hybrid anion exchange membrane based on crown ether functionalized mesoporous SBA-NH2

Abstract

In this paper, self-made diformyl-dibenzo-18-crown-6 ether (DDB 18 C 6 ) is in-situ grafted into the pores of mesoporous molecular sieve (SBA-NH 2 ), and then the aforementioned modified molecular sieve (SBA-C) is introduced into the polyvinyl alcohol solution, and then the glutaraldehyde as the crosslinking agent to synthesized the anion exchange membrane under for fuel cell application. During the experiment, a series of anion exchange membranes (P-(SBA x% -C), x is the mass fraction of SBA-NH 2 ) is developed and the pore channels and chemical structures of the aforementioned membrane is verified by FT-IR, SAXD, N 2 adsorption-desorption, 1 H NMR and XPS. Moreover, the performance of the membrane synthesized in this paper is also investigated and the results revealed that the unique membrane internal structure can improve the OH − transportation efficiency. Furthermore, the ionic conductivity of P-(SBA 10% -C) membrane is the highest (0.107S·cm −1 ) and the power density is the highest (354.8 mW cm −2 ) at 80 °C. By immersing P-(SBA 10% -C) membrane in 6 mol L −1 KOH solution for 168 h, the conductivity at 80 °C only decreased by 2%, proving that P-(SBA 10% -C) has a higher conductivity, good single cell performance and alkali stability. • A new kind of mesoporous molecular sieve with ordered pores grafted with crown ether was prepared. • A new type of anion exchange membrane with ordered mesoporous channels grafted with crown ether was prepared. • Using crown ether to complex K + to improve the conductivity of anion exchange membranes. • Prepared membrane showed excellent OH − conductivity and alkaline stability.