Strong and Flexible High-Performance Anion Exchange Membranes with Long-Distance Interconnected Ion Transport Channels for Alkaline Fuel Cells

Anion exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs), which operate on a variety of green fuels, can achieve high power without emitting greenhouse gases. However, the lack of high ionic conductivity and long-term durability of anion-exchange membranes (AEMs) as their key components is a major obstacle hindering the commercial application of AEMFCs. Here, a series of homogeneous semi-interpenetrating network (semi-IPN) AEMs formed by cross-linking a copolymer of styrene (St) and 4-vinylbenzyl chloride (VBC) with branched polyethylenimine (BPEI) were designed. The pure carbon copolymer skeleton without sulfone/ether bonds accompanied by the semi-IPN endows the AEMs with excellent chemical stability. Moreover, the cross-linking effect of flexible BPEI chains is supposed to promote the “strong-flexible” mechanical properties, while the presence of multiquaternary ammonium groups can boost the formation of microphase separation, thereby enhancing the ionic conductivity of these AEMs. Consequently, the optimized (S 1 V 1 ) 3 Q AEM exhibits an excellent hydroxide conductivity of 106 mS cm –1 at 80 °C, as well as more than 81% residual conductivity after soaking in 1 M NaOH at 60 °C for 720 h. Furthermore, the H 2 /O 2 fuel cell assembled with (S 1 V 1 ) 3 Q AEM delivers a peak power density of 150.2 mW cm –2 at 60 °C and 40% relative humidity. All results indicate that the approach of combining a pure carbon backbone polymer with a semi-IPN structure may be a viable strategy for fabricating AEMs that can be used in AEMFCs for long-term applications.