High performance aliphatic-heterocyclic benzyl-quaternary ammonium radiation-grafted anion-exchange membranes

Ponce-González, J, Whelligan, DK, Wang, L, Bance-Soualhi, R, Wang, Y, Peng, Y, Peng, H, Apperley, DC, Sarode, HN, Pandey, TP et al, Divekar, AG, Seifert, S, Herring, AM, Zhuang, L and Varcoe, J (2016) High performance aliphatic-heterocyclic benzyl-quaternary ammonium radiation-grafted anion-exchange membranes Energy and Environmental Science, 9 (12). pp. 3724-3735.

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Abstract

Anion-exchange membranes (AEM) containing saturated-heterocyclic benzyl-quaternary ammonium (QA) groups synthesised by radiation-grafting onto poly(ethylene-co-tetrafluoroethylene) (ETFE) films are reported. The relative properties of these AEMs are compared with the benchmark radiation-grafted ETFE-g-poly(vinylbenzyltrimethylammonium) AEM. Two AEMs containing heterocyclic-QA head groups were down-selected with higher relative stabilities in aqueous KOH (1 mol dm-3) at 80°C (compared to the benchmark): these 100 μm thick (fully hydrated) ETFE-g-poly(vinylbenzyl-Nmethylpiperidinium)- and ETFE-g-poly(vinylbenzyl-N-methylpyrrolidinium)-based AEMs had as-synthesised ion-exchange capacities (IEC) of 1.64 and 1.66 mmol g-1, respectively, which reduced to 1.36 mmol dm-3 (ca. 17 – 18% loss of IEC) after alkali ageing (the benchmark AEM showed 30% loss of IEC under the same conditions). These down-selected AEMs exhibited as-synthesised Cl- ion conductivities of 49 and 52 mS cm-1, respectively, at 90°C in a 95% relative humidity atmosphere, while the OH- forms exhibited conductivities of 138 and 159 mS cm-1, respectively, at 80°C in a 95% relative humidity atmosphere. The ETFE-g-poly(vinylbenzyl-N-methylpyrrolidinium)-based AEM produced the highest performances when tested as catalyst coated membranes in H2/O2 alkaline polymer electrolyte fuel cells at 60°C with PtRu/C anodes, Pt/C cathodes, and a polysulfone ionomer: the 100 μm thick variant (synthesised from 50 μm thick ETFE) yielded peak power densities of 800 and 630 mW cm-2 (with and without 0.1 MPa back pressurisation, respectively), while a 52 μm thick variant (synthesised from 25 μm thick ETFE) yielded 980 and 800 mW cm-2 under the same conditions. From these results, we make the recommendation that developers of AEMs, especially pendent benzyl-QA types, should consider the benzyl-Nmethylpyrrolidinium head-group as an improvement to the current de facto benchmark benzyltrimethylammonium headgroup.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects :	Chemistry
Divisions :	Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences > Chemistry
Authors :	Name Email ORCID Ponce-González, J Whelligan, DK Wang, L Bance-Soualhi, R Wang, Y Peng, Y Peng, H Apperley, DC Sarode, HN Pandey, TP Divekar, AG Seifert, S Herring, AM Zhuang, L Varcoe, J
Date :	3 October 2016
Funders :	EPSRC
Identification Number :	10.1039/C6EE01958G
Copyright Disclaimer :	© The Royal Society of Chemistry 2016. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence.
Related URLs :	http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/811096/
Depositing User :	Symplectic Elements
Date Deposited :	11 Oct 2016 08:34
Last Modified :	31 Oct 2017 18:46
URI:	http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/id/eprint/812362

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