Abstract Tuning the hydrophilic/hydrophobic nanophase-separated morphology to enhance the conductivity is a considerable challenge in the field of anion exchange membranes (AEMs). Here, a series of novel aliphatic-aromatic copolymer AEMs were designed by embedding flexible alkyl chains of different lengths into rigid main chain of poly(ether sulfone). Compared to traditional aromatic polymer, the aliphatic-aromatic copolymers had more flexible main chains and longer hydrophobic segments, both of which promoted the nanophase separation and the formation of ionic clusters. Increasing aliphatic chain length made the ionic clusters larger and more interconnected, but too long aliphatic chain led to the formation of smaller ionic clusters because the ionic groups were far away from each other. An optimum length of the aliphatic chain (8 C) existed for the nanophase-separated morphology with the biggest ionic clusters (around 8 nm), with which the membrane showed the highest conductivity. A peak power density of 159 mW cm−2 was obtained for the cell incorporating the 8 C membrane. Based on these, this study reveals a new direction to create a tunable nanophase-separated morphology for high-performance AEMs.

中文翻译：

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通过将不同长度的脂肪链嵌入芳香族主链中来调整阴离子交换膜的纳米相分离形态

摘要 调整亲水/疏水纳米相分离的形态以提高电导率是阴离子交换膜 (AEM) 领域的一个相当大的挑战。在这里，通过将不同长度的柔性烷基链嵌入聚（醚砜）的刚性主链中，设计了一系列新型脂族-芳族共聚物 AEM。与传统的芳香族聚合物相比，脂肪族-芳香族共聚物具有更灵活的主链和更长的疏水链段，这两者都促进了纳米相分离和离子簇的形成。增加脂肪族链长使离子簇更大、更相互连接，但太长的脂肪族链导致形成更小的离子簇，因为离子基团彼此远离。对于具有最大离子簇（约 8 nm）的纳米相分离形态，脂肪链的最佳长度 (8 C) 存在，膜显示出最高的电导率。对于包含 8 C 膜的电池，获得了 159 mW cm-2 的峰值功率密度。基于这些，这项研究揭示了为高性能 AEM 创建可调纳米相分离形态的新方向。