Poly(styrene-b(ethylene-co-butylene)-b-styrene) Cross-Linked Anion Exchange Membranes Grafted with Caged Double Cations and Poly(m-triphenylene-piperidine)

In order to solve the problems of high swelling rate and poor mechanical properties caused by excessive water uptake of poly(styrene-b-(ethylene-co butene)-b-styrene) (SEBS)-based anion exchange membranes (AEMs), a series of SEBS-C6-MDA-TPIPx membranes with a controllable cross-linking degree were prepared by cross-linking poly(m-triphenylene piperidinium) (TPIP) with SEBS grafted with 1-methyl-1,4-diazabicyclo [2.2.2] octane-1-ammonium iodide. The results showed that with the increase of TPIP content, the swelling of SEBS-C6-MDA-TPIPx membranes decreased, the chemical stability and mechanical properties increased remarkably, and all membranes possessed obvious hydrophilic/hydrophobic microphase separation structures. Among them, the SEBS-C6-MDA-TPIP15% membrane has excellent mechanical properties and high ionic conductivity (86.76 mS cm–1 at 80 °C), and the ionic conductivity only decreased by 20.81% after soaking in a 2 M NaOH solution at 80 °C for 2200 h. H2/O2 fuel cells assembled from the SEBS-C6-MDA-TPIP15% membrane have a maximized power density of 221 mW cm–2 at 80 °C.