Kenji Miyatake, Masahiro Watanabe and colleagues at the University of Yamanashi, Japan, synthesised ionomers as anion exchange membranes for alkaline fuel cell applications. The ionomers are based on poly(arylene ether)s containing quaternized ammonio-substituted fluorenyl groups.
The membranes were thermally stable up to 180 °C under nitrogen and mechanically stable with 48 MPa of the maximum stress at 80 °C and 60% relative humidity. High hydroxide ion conductivity up to 50 mS cm−1 was achieved at 30 °C in water for the ionomer membrane bearing sulfone/ketone structures and the highest IEC (2.54 meq. g−1). The membranes were durable in hot water (80 °C) for 1000 hours. The properties of the ionomer membranes make them promising candidates as an anion exchange membrane for alkaline fuel cells the team say.
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