High Performance Anion Exchange Membranes with Confined Sub-2-nm Ion Channel

As a key component of low-cost anion exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs), anion exchange membranes (AEMs) are far from commercial application, because of dissatisfactory alkaline stability and conductivity. Herein, a new insight is proposed to prepare high performance AEMs by constructing of confined ion channel. With an intermediate oligomer produced before the main copolymerization, novel poly(vinyl-carbazolyl aryl piperidinium) AEMs with confined sub-2-nm ion channel are successfully prepared. The unique sub-2-nm ion channel enable membranes ultrahigh hydroxide conductivity of 261.6 mS cm(-1), and the state-of-the-art chemical stability over 5000 h. Moreover, the AEMs also exhibit good mechanical stability with lower water uptake and dimensional swelling. Based on the as-prepared AEMs and ionomer, fuel cells exhibit outstanding peak power density of 1.8 and 0.2 W cm(-2) with Pt-based catalysts and completely non-precious metal catalysts, respectively.