Synthesis and properties of poly(arylene ether sulfone) anion exchange membranes with pendant benzyl-quaternary ammonium groups

This work develops a new difluoro aromatic ketone monomer DFDM and a series of side-chain type poly(arylene ether sulfone)s (sPAE) bearing pendent 3,5-dimethylphenyl groups. The corresponding side-chain anion exchange membranes derived from DFBDM-based PAEs display high alkaline stability and high conductivity. The present membranes sQPAE(x/y) exhibit high conductivity, which is attributed to distinct microphase separation morphology resulting from its greater length and dense distribution of the pedant quaternary ammonium groups.364