Preparation and performance study of self‐crosslinking functionalized poly(aryl piperidine) anion exchange membrane

Abstract The durability of anion exchange membranes (AEMs) and the balance between ionic conductivity and dimensional stability have been the focus of research. To this end, we propose a new type of AEMs with vinyl imidazole as the in situ cross‐linking monomer. The rigid‐flexible balance within the membrane was adjusted by changing the arrangement of the internal segments of the polymer and introducing different monomers into the main chain. The results showed that the performance of AEMs could be effectively improved by adopting an ether‐free backbone and a cationic cross‐linking strategy. The swelling rate of all AEMs was less than 20%. The ionic conductivity of BDCP‐80 reached 102.74 mS cm −1 at 80°C. Alkaline stability tests showed that the ionic conductivity of all AEMs remained above 82% after 720 h immersion in 2 M NaOH solution at 80°C. This study demonstrated that the simple in situ cross‐linking method can effectively improve the overall performance of AEMs and provide an effective way to develop high‐performance AEMs.