Self-crosslinked anion exchange membranes by bromination of benzylmethyl-containing poly(sulfone)s for direct methanol fuel cells

A series of novel anion exchange membranes based on poly(arylene ether sulfone) were fabricated. And the synthesized 1, 1, 2, 3, 3-pentamethylguanidine was used as a hydrophilic group. Bromination reaction rather than chloromethylation was used for the preparation of target conductive polymers. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), 1H NMR and mass spectrometry (MS) were used to characterize the as-synthesized polymers. The ratio of hydrophilic to hydrophobic monomers was varied to study the structure-property of the membranes. The performance of the membrane with both hydrophilic/hydrophobic segments was improved over the membrane with sole hydrophilic segments. The self-crosslinking structure of the as-prepared membranes is partly responsible for their very low methanol permeability with the minimum of 1.02 × 10−9 cm−2⋅S−1 at 30 °C and insolubility in organic solvents considered. The structural dependence of water uptake is in the range of 25–87%. The as-prepared membranes did not suffer from serious membrane swelling. The ionic exchange capacity (IEC) reached a maximum of 1.21 mmol⋅g−1. The ionic conductivity of the membrane in deionized water is 6.00 and 13.00 × 10−2 S⋅cm−1 at 30 and 80 °C respectively.

► Anion exchange membranes containing pentamethylguanidine were fabricated.
► The hydrophilic/hydrophobic structure-property of the membranes was studied.
► The self-crosslinking structure is partly responsible for low methanol permeability.
► The membranes exhibit good ionic conductivity with excellent chemical stability.