Different fluorinated monomers formed poly(phenanthrene-co-p-terphenyl piperidinium) anion exchange membranes for fuel cells

Improving the comprehensive performance of anion exchange membranes (AEMs) has a decisive impact on the wide application of anion exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs). Herein, we prepared a series of new poly(phenanthrene-co-p-terphenyl piperidinium) (PPTP3F x -DIL) AEMs with different fluorinated monomers for high performance AEMFCs. The polymerization of fluorinated monomers with other aryl monomers can effectively promote the separation of microphase in the membrane. It also has a high OH − conductivity at a low swelling. The membrane (PPTP3F 4 -DIL) prepared by polycondensation of 2,2,2-trifluoro-1-(p-tolyl)ethan 1-one monomer achieves a high conductivity of 168.5 mS cm −1 at 80 °C. At the same time, the water uptake is 40.0% and the swelling ratio is 12.1%. In addition, these membranes also have good mechanical properties and alkaline stability. After 1440 h of treatment in a NaOH (2 M) solution at 80 °C, PPTP3F x -DIL still maintains excellent tensile strength (>30.3 MPa) and elongation at break (>43.4%), and the conductivity retention of the PPTP3F 1 -DIL membrane is 90.3%. The PPTP3F 4 -DIL-based single cell exhibits a high peak power density (918.1 mW cm −2 ) and excellent durability (100 h) at 80 °C. Therefore, these PPTP3F x -DIL membranes have a wide range of applications in AEMFCs.