Alkaline anion exchange membrane containing pyrene-based p-p stacking interactions br

Highly conductive and chemically resistant alkaline anion exchange membranes (AAEMs) are highly desirable in various electrochemical devices such as alkaline anion exchange membrane fuel cells (AAEMFCs) and water electrolysis. Here we present the novel AAEMs with pyrene-containing ether-free polymer backbones bearing piperidinium cations. Both morphology analyses and simulations verify that the 7C-7C stacking of pyrene units in polymer backbones can actuate the neighboring piperidinium cations to aggregate and form ion conducting channels, thus enhancing the ion conductivity of AAEMs (153 mS cm-1 at 90 ?C). Additionally, the resultant aryl ether-free poly(aryl piperidinium) structure guarantees the chemical durability of the AAEMs, which has 91.5% OH- conductivity retention after treatment in 2 M NaOH at 80 ?C for1080 h. Meanwhile, the rigid pyrene units increase the rigidity of polymer backbones, resulting in excellent mechanical strength (46.3 MPa) and dimen-sional stability (swelling ratio of 11.8% at 90 ?C). The molecular design provides an attractive strategy for advancing the development of high-performance AAEMs.

Automated summary

In this study, a novel AAEMs with pyrene-containing ether-free polymer backbones and rigid pyrene units was designed, which showed improved ion conductivity, chemical durability, and mechanical strength.