Issue 60, 2020

Enhancement of alkaline conductivity and chemical stability of quaternized poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) alkaline electrolyte membrane by mild temperature benzyl bromination

Abstract

A series of quaternized polyphenylene oxide (QPPO) based alkaline electrolyte membranes with different degrees of quaternization were synthesized via a benzyl bromination method at mild temperature (75 °C). Quite a high hydroxide conductivity under the reduced water uptake and swelling was exhibited by this method. When the degree of bromination measured from 1H NMR analysis was 30%, the corresponding hydroxide ion conductivity was 0.021 S cm−1. The chemical stability of the QPPO membranes was excellent, showing only 3% weight loss in 3 M NaOH solution during 1 month. The fuel cell performance test under H2/O2 exhibited the power density of 77 mW cm−2 and the current density of 190 mA cm−2 at 70 °C. Such excellent properties of QPPO membranes resulted from the achievement of the quaternization at the benzyl position, specifically.

Graphical abstract: Enhancement of alkaline conductivity and chemical stability of quaternized poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) alkaline electrolyte membrane by mild temperature benzyl bromination

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
08 Aug 2020
Accepted
13 Sep 2020
First published
06 Oct 2020
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Adv., 2020,10, 36704-36712

Enhancement of alkaline conductivity and chemical stability of quaternized poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) alkaline electrolyte membrane by mild temperature benzyl bromination

M. Manohar and D. Kim, RSC Adv., 2020, 10, 36704 DOI: 10.1039/D0RA06852G

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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