Robust alkaline stability of MOFs functionalized poly (aryl ether ketone) anion exchange membranes for hydrogen fuel cells

In this paper, poly (aryl ether ketone sulfone) polymers containing amino groups (Am-PAEKS) was synthesized via a direct polycondensation reaction, and subsequently, imidazole functionalized Am-PAEKS (Im-Am-PAEKS) was prepared by functionalized modification using chlorinated 1-allyl-3-methylimidazole. Meanwhile, cationically modified UiO-66-NH₂ metal-organic frameworks (CA-MOF) were added by cationic modification of D-UiO-66-NH₂, which were introduced into the polymer matrix as filler, composite membranes with different contents of cationic MOFs were prepared. The structures and morphologies of D-UiO-66-NH₂, CA-MOF and the composite membranes were also characterized by ¹H NMR, FT-IR, SEM and EDS. The prepared composite membranes exhibited good ionic conductivity, with a higher ionic conductivity of 0.184 S cm⁻¹ at 80 °C than that of the pure membrane (0.074 S cm⁻¹ at 80 °C). The open-circuit voltage (OCV) and peak power density of the composite membrane were respectively 0.924 V and 69.80 mW cm⁻². Meanwhile, all prepared composite membranes had excellent dimensional stability, with all membranes exhibiting a swelling ratio of less than 12%. These consequences demonstrate the composite membrane prepared in this article has a good application prospect for anion-exchange membrane fields.