{"title":"Bioinspired anion exchange membranes with dual steric cross-linking centers for industrial-scale water electrolysis","authors":"Tang Tang, Husileng Lee, Zhiwei Wang, Zhiheng Li, Linqin Wang, Dexin Chen, Wentao Zheng, Qinglu Liu, Lanlan He, Guoheng Ding, Ziyu Tian, Licheng Sun","doi":"10.1039/d4ee02428a","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"OH<small><sup>−</sup></small> transport through anion exchange membranes (AEMs) is influenced by the arrangement of ion channels. Inspired by the channel structure of pectin in plants, a precise molecular regulation approach has here been developed for designing high-performance AEMs. This approach utilizes two steric molecules, triptycene and 9,9′-spirobifluorene, as dual spatially cross-linking centers in AEMs. By incorporating both of these steric centers into poly(terphenyl piperidinium), the pore structure stability, ionic conductivity, and mechanical strength are further improved. This variant achieved a high OH<small><sup>−</sup></small> conductivity of 197.4 mS cm<small><sup>−1</sup></small> and a significantly low swelling ratio of 8.6% at 80 °C. These characteristics enable the use of AEM water electrolysis (AEM-WE) for the achievement of a current density of 8.4 A cm<small><sup>−2</sup></small> at 2.0 V when using completely platinum group metal (PGM)-free catalysts. This device also demonstrated high performance by achieving a current density of 2.0 A cm<small><sup>−2</sup></small> at a cell voltage of 1.77 V at 60 °C, along with excellent stability (aging rate of 0.077 mV h<small><sup>−1</sup></small>). It should be noted that an electrode cell based on a five-stacked-membrane, with a total flow-field area of 1250 cm<small><sup>2</sup></small>, has been used in the present study. In addition, this cell device allowed for a current density of 20 000 A m<small><sup>−2</sup></small> at a cell voltage of 2.0 V. The molecular regulation approach developed here precisely represents a promising strategy for industrial applications of PGM-free AEM-WE systems.","PeriodicalId":72,"journal":{"name":"Energy & Environmental Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":32.4000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Energy & Environmental Science","FirstCategoryId":"88","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d4ee02428a","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"CHEMISTRY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
OH− transport through anion exchange membranes (AEMs) is influenced by the arrangement of ion channels. Inspired by the channel structure of pectin in plants, a precise molecular regulation approach has here been developed for designing high-performance AEMs. This approach utilizes two steric molecules, triptycene and 9,9′-spirobifluorene, as dual spatially cross-linking centers in AEMs. By incorporating both of these steric centers into poly(terphenyl piperidinium), the pore structure stability, ionic conductivity, and mechanical strength are further improved. This variant achieved a high OH− conductivity of 197.4 mS cm−1 and a significantly low swelling ratio of 8.6% at 80 °C. These characteristics enable the use of AEM water electrolysis (AEM-WE) for the achievement of a current density of 8.4 A cm−2 at 2.0 V when using completely platinum group metal (PGM)-free catalysts. This device also demonstrated high performance by achieving a current density of 2.0 A cm−2 at a cell voltage of 1.77 V at 60 °C, along with excellent stability (aging rate of 0.077 mV h−1). It should be noted that an electrode cell based on a five-stacked-membrane, with a total flow-field area of 1250 cm2, has been used in the present study. In addition, this cell device allowed for a current density of 20 000 A m−2 at a cell voltage of 2.0 V. The molecular regulation approach developed here precisely represents a promising strategy for industrial applications of PGM-free AEM-WE systems.
期刊介绍:
Energy & Environmental Science, a peer-reviewed scientific journal, publishes original research and review articles covering interdisciplinary topics in the (bio)chemical and (bio)physical sciences, as well as chemical engineering disciplines. Published monthly by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), a not-for-profit publisher, Energy & Environmental Science is recognized as a leading journal. It boasts an impressive impact factor of 8.500 as of 2009, ranking 8th among 140 journals in the category "Chemistry, Multidisciplinary," second among 71 journals in "Energy & Fuels," second among 128 journals in "Engineering, Chemical," and first among 181 scientific journals in "Environmental Sciences."
Energy & Environmental Science publishes various types of articles, including Research Papers (original scientific work), Review Articles, Perspectives, and Minireviews (feature review-type articles of broad interest), Communications (original scientific work of an urgent nature), Opinions (personal, often speculative viewpoints or hypotheses on current topics), and Analysis Articles (in-depth examination of energy-related issues).