Polysulfone-Based Anion-exchange Membranes for Alkaline Water Electrolyzers

By the method of chloromethylation and further quaternization of polysulfone, the synthesis of an anion-exchange membrane for electrolyzers of water with an alkaline electrolyte was carried out. The characteristics of the resulting membrane are determined: porosity, electrical conductivity, gas density. A comparative analysis of the characteristics of the membrane and the porous diaphragm (analog of ZifronPerl) is given, the results of tests in the composition of an alkaline electrolyzer battery in comparison with a porous diaphragm based on unmodified polysulfone with hydrophilic filler (TiO2) synthesized by phase inversion are presented. A possible mechanism of degradation of the main chain of quaternized polysulfone is described. The ways of further development of the technology of anion-exchange membranes based on polysulfone are proposed.