Construction of efficient ion transport channels in MOFs-blended poly (ether ether ketone) containing multiple ion transport sites

In this paper, trimethyl poly (ether ether ketone) (T-PEEK) containing multiple sites was prepared by a polycondensation reaction, and afterwards, brominated T-PEEK (Br-T-PEEK) and imidazole functionalized T-PEEK (Im-T-PEEK) were prepared by substitution reaction. And cationic metal organic frameworks UiO-66-NH2 (C-MOF) was synthesized as fillers. Composite membranes were fabricated by incorporating cationic UiO-66-NH2 into imidazole functionalized Im-T-PEEK. Im-T-PEEK/C-MOF-5% (the weight percentage of C-MOF was 5%) composite membranes exhibit good mechanical properties, such as Young's modulus of 2319.06 MPa and tensile strength of 38.34 MPa. The ionic conductivity of the composite membrane, Im-T-PEEK/C-MOF-5%, achieved a remarkable value of 106.4 mS cm−1 at a temperature of 80 °C. All the membranes exhibited good alkaline stability. After immersing the prepared membranes in a solution of 1 M NaOH at a temperature of 60°C for a duration of 360 h, it was observed that the ionic conductivity of the membranes retained more than 70% of their initial ionic conductivity. Furthermore, the open-circuit voltage and peak power density of Im-T-PEEK/C-MOF-5% reached 0.904 V and 154.26 mW cm−2, respectively. In a word, this study presents a promising strategy for the preparation of advanced anion exchange membranes (AEMs) with good properties for energy conversion and storage applications.