Preparation and characterization of anion-exchange membranes derived from poly(vinylbenzyl chloride-co-styrene) and intercalated montmorillonite

In this paper, three organic intercalating agents containing cations [hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB), poly(acrylamide-co-diallyldimethylammonium chloride), and quaternized polyethyleneimine] are used to prepare intercalated montmorillonites (MMT) by ion-exchange method. Then the modified MMTs are doped with vinylbenzyl chloride and styrene copolymer [poly(vinylbenzyl chloride-co-styrene)] for fabricating composite anion-exchange membranes (AEM). Fourier transform infrared, X-raydiffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and Mastersizer laser particle size analyzer are employed to characterize the structure and morphology of MMTs and AEMs. The successful intercalation of MMTs is approved, and the MMT intercalated by CTAB shows an interlayer distance of 2.31 nm. The properties of the composite membranes including water uptake, mechanical property, and ionic conductivity are investigated. Among all the AEMs, the composite membrane containing MMT sheets with CTAB demonstrates better compositive performances. It presents an ionic conductivity of 2.09 × 10−2 S cm−1 at 80°C and good alkaline solution stability. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.