Abstract
Alkaline stability is the critical issue for the practical application of anion exchange membranes (AEMs) in fuel cells. The benzyltrimethyl ammonium and backbone with C-O linkages of the traditional AEMs are susceptible to attack by hydroxide ions resulting in poor alkaline stability of the AEMs. Herein, we present the preparation of polystyrene-b-poly(ethylene-co-butylene)-b-polystyrene (SEBS) triblock copolymer via grafting, ketone reduction and quaternization for AEM fuel cell applications. The quaternary ammonium (QA) groups are attached to the SEBS backbone free of C-O linkages via long flexible alkyl spacers, which are responsible for the robust alkaline stability of the AEMs. Thus, the hydroxide conductivity of SEBS-CH2-QA-1.5 was only decreased by 7.7% and 13.7% after immersing the membranes into a 1M aqueous KOH solution at 60 and 90°C for 360h, respectively. Furthermore, SEBS-CH2-QA-1.5 with IEC of 1.23meqg−1 exhibits a maximum hydroxide conductivity of 56.4mScm−1 at 80°C and a maximum power density of 94.6mWcm−2 under a current density of 300mAcm−2.
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