Microwave Assisted Grafting of Polyethylene Membrane through Imidazolium and Pyridinium Moieties as Alkaline Anion Exchanger for Fuel Cell Applications

Abstract

Recent years have seen a significant uptick in the study of solid polymer electrolyte membranes for fuel cell applications with improved performance. Anion exchange membranes have revolutionized the alkaline fuel cell industry by replacing older liquid electrolyte alkaline fuel cells (AFCs). However, scalable alkaline anion exchange membranes, a key component of Membrane-based Fuel Cells, with desired properties are still far to achieve, which presents a major hurdle to the development of this most efficient energy conversion technology. Here we designed an anion exchange membrane based on Polyethylene-Linear Low Density Polyethylene (LLDPE) film containing imidazolium and pyridinium cationic moieties via Microwave-assisted Chemical Graft Copolymerization in glycerol-water solvent system. The prepared membrane possesses adequate chemical stability, mechanical robustness, ion exchange capacity and water uptake. These properties emanate from the combination of the imidazolium-pyridinium cationic moieties and the polyethylene backbone. © 2023 Elsevier B.V.