High-performance and scalable poly(terphenyl-furan piperidinium) membrane for anion exchange membrane fuel cell with 2 W cm−2 of peak power density

Anion exchange membrane (AEM) with high ionic conductivity and stable dimension is urgently needed to improve cost-effective anion exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFC). In this study, a dibenzofuran-containing poly(terphenyl furan piperidinium) (QPTFP) membrane is successfully synthesized in large quantities with a yield exceeding 500 g for the purpose of large-scale AEM production. The introduction of non-rotatable dibenzofurans results in an acceptable swelling ratio of 25 % and high ionic conductivity of 155 mS cm−1 at 80 °C. It also exhibits a favorable tensile strength of 52.6 MPa and excellent alkaline stability of 2200 h at 80 °C in 1 M KOH. Furthermore, the AEMFC employing QPTFP membrane achieves remarkable peak power densities at 80 °C for H2–O2 (2 W cm−2) and H2-Air (1.2 W cm−2), and demonstrates excellent stability of over 90 h at 70 °C and a current density of 0.2 A cm−2.