Novel piperidinium-functionalized crosslinked anion exchange membrane with flexible spacers for water electrolysis

Anion Exchange membranes (AEM) are core components for alkaline electrochemical energy technology, such as the AEM water electrolysis and AEM fuel cell. They are regarded as promising alternatives for proton exchange membrane-based systems due to the possibility of using noble metal-free electrocatalyst. However, chemical stability and conductivity of the membrane are still the main challenge of the electrolyzer system. Here in we highlight an AEM with styrene-b-ethylene-b-butylene-b-styrene copolymer (SEBS) as its backbone and piperidinium functioned flexible ethylene oxide spacer structure as its side-chains (SEBS-P2O6). This membrane reached 20.8 mS cm-1 hydroxide ion conductivity at room temperature, which is higher compared to previously obtained piperidinium functionalized SEBS with 10.09 mS cm-1[1]. The SEBS-P206 was measured in a single cell AEM electrolysis cell with platinum group metal (PGM) catalyst. Current densities 275 mA cm-2 and 680 mA cm-2 at 60 degrees C and 2 V cell potential were achieved in ultra-pure ware (UPW) and 0.1 M KOH, respectively. Remarkably, in UPW the degradation rate was only 140 mu A h-1 cm-2, which is the lowest reported up to know.

Automated summary

In this study, a new type of anion exchange membrane with a styrene-b-ethylene-b-butylene-b-styrene copolymer (SEBS) backbone and piperidinium functioned flexible ethylene oxide spacer structure as its side-chains (SEBS-P2O6) was developed. The membrane exhibited a hydroxide ion conductivity of 20.8 mS cm-1 at room temperature, higher than the previously obtained piperidinium functionalized SEBS membrane with 10.09 mS cm-1.