1. Ion transport properties of mechanically stable symmetric ABCBA pentablock copolymers with quaternary ammonium functionalized midblock
- Author
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Ertem, S Piril, Caire, Benjamin R, Tsai, Tsung‐Han, Zeng, Di, Vandiver, Melissa A, Kusoglu, Ahmet, Seifert, Soenke, Hayward, Ryan C, Weber, Adam Z, Herring, Andrew M, Coughlin, E Bryan, and Liberatore, Matthew W
- Subjects
anion exchange membrane ,block copolymers ,conducting polymers ,ionomers ,ion conductivity ,inverse morphology ,morphology ,mechanical properties ,mechanically robust ,pentablock copolymer ,Physical Sciences ,Chemical Sciences ,Engineering ,Polymers - Abstract
Anion exchange membranes (AEMs) are a promising class of materials for applications that require selective ion transport, such as fuel cells, water purification, and electrolysis devices. Studies of structure–morphology–property relationships of ion-exchange membranes revealed that block copolymers exhibit improved ion conductivity and mechanical properties due to their microphase-separated morphologies with well-defined ionic domains. While most studies focused on symmetric diblock or triblock copolymers, here, the first example of a midblock quaternized pentablock AEM is presented. A symmetric ABCBA pentablock copolymer was functionalized to obtain a midblock brominated polymer. Solution cast films were then quaternized to obtain AEMs with resulting ion exchange capacities (IEC) ranging from 0.4 to 0.9 mmol/g. Despite the relatively low IEC, the polymers were highly conductive (up to 60 mS/cm Br− at 90 °C and 95%RH) with low water absorption (
- Published
- 2017