For higher performances of anion exchange membrane (AEM) fuel cells, understanding the phase-separated structures inside AEMs is essential, as well as those at the catalyst layer/membrane interfaces. The AEMs based on quaternized aromatic semi-block copolymers with different ion exchange capacities (IECs) were systematically investigated. With IECs of 1.23 and 1.95 mequiv g⁻¹, the water uptakes at room temperature were 37% and 98%, and the anion conductivities 23.6 and 71.4 mS cm⁻¹, respectively. The increases were not proportional to the IEC. Images obtained by transmission electron microscopy in vacuum were similar with both IEC values, but the development of a clear phase separation in humidified nitrogen was observed in the profiles only with 1.95 mequiv g⁻¹obtained by small-angle X-ray scattering. At the temperature of 40 °C and the relative humidity (RH) of 30%, the average currents observed at the tip apex by current-sensing atomic force microscopy were <0.5 and 10 pA with 1.23 and 1.95 mequiv g⁻¹, respectively, and those at 70% RH were 10 and 15 pA, respectively. The humidity gave a larger influence on the bulk structure with 1.95 mequiv g⁻¹, whereas a larger influence on the surface conductivity with 1.23 mequiv g⁻¹.

对于更高性能的阴离子交换膜（AEM）燃料电池，了解AEM内部以及催化剂层/膜界面处的相分离结构至关重要。系统地研究了基于具有不同离子交换容量（IEC）的季铵化芳族半嵌段共聚物的AEM。IEC为1.23和1.95 mequiv g ^-1时，室温下的吸水率分别为37％和98％，阴离子电导率分别为23.6和71.4 mS cm ^-1。增加与IEC不成比例。真空中通过透射电子显微镜获得的图像与两个IEC值均相似，但是仅在1.95 mequiv g ^-1的曲线中观察到了在湿润的氮气中清晰的相分离的发展。通过小角度X射线散射获得。在40°C的温度和30％的相对湿度（RH）下，电流感应原子力显微镜在尖端顶点观察到的平均电流分别为<0.5和10 pA（1.23和1.95 mequiv g ^-1），相对湿度在70％时分别为10 pA和15 pA。湿度对1.95 mequiv g ^-1的块体结构影响较大，而对1.23 mequiv g ^-1的表面电导率影响较大。