A series of
anion conductive aromatic ionomers, poly(arylene ether)s containing various polymer backbones
and quaternary ammonium basic group functioned tetraphenyl meth
ane 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
1H NMR technique. Their thermal stabilities were evaluated by thermo gravimetric
analysis (TGA). The water uptakes, ion exch
ange capacities (IEC), hydroxide ion conductivities, mech
anical properties,
and chemical stabilities of the membr
anes derived from the synthesized ionomers were assessed as
anion exch
ange membr
anes. The QPAEs membr
anes were tough
and thermally stable up to 170 掳C. The IEC of the ionomers varied from 0.21 to 2.38 meq g
鈥? which c
an be controlled by chloromethylation reaction conditions. The ion conductivities of QPAEs membr
anes increase dramatically with increasing temperature. The hydroxide ion tr
ansport activation energy,
Ea, of the QPAEs membr
anes varied from 13.18 to 42.30 kJ mol
鈥?. The QPAE-d membr
ane with lower IEC value of 1.04 meq g
鈥?, derived from copolymer CMPAE-d bearing sulfone/ketone structure, displayed the highest hydroxide ion conductivity of 75 mS cm
鈥? at 80 掳C
and showed strong tensile strength (29.2 MPa) at 25 掳C. The QPAE-e membr
ane with IEC value of 1.09 meq g
鈥?, derived from copolymer CMPAE-e bearing sulfone/ketone鈥搆etone structure, demonstrated 68 mS cm
鈥? at 80 掳C. The QPAE-d membr
ane kept 90% of mech
anical properties
and 82% of hydroxide ion conductivity after being conditioned with 1 M NaOH at 60 掳C for 170 h. These properties of the ionomers membr
anes show their potential as
an anion exch
ange membr
ane of alkaline fuel cells.
Keywords:
Poly(arylene ether)s; ionomers; chloromethylation; quaternization; anion+exchange+membrane&qsSearchArea=searchText">alkaline anion exchange membrane; polymer electrolyte