Daohui He , Zhipeng Xu , Zhihao Lin , Meng Wang , Ning Ding , Jingjing Yin , Wenhui Shi , Junbin Liao , Jiangnan Shen
{"title":"Branched naphthalene ring-containing polybenzimidazole membranes for high-temperature fuel cells and alkaline electrolytic waters","authors":"Daohui He , Zhipeng Xu , Zhihao Lin , Meng Wang , Ning Ding , Jingjing Yin , Wenhui Shi , Junbin Liao , Jiangnan Shen","doi":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124769","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124769","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The ionic conductivity of polymers exerts a profound influence on the operational efficiency of energy conversion devices. Elevated conductivity efficiently mitigates ohmic resistance, thus optimizing the overall functionality of these systems. Previous research has demonstrated that incorporating naphthalene rings into polybenzimidazole (PBI) molecular structures confers exceptional oxidative stability to the material. In this work, low−content large 3D structures and highly rigid adamantane structures are introduced as branching points into the naphthalene−containing PBI, enabling it to absorb more electrolytes while improving dimensional stability. Specifically, upon phosphoric acid (PA) absorption, the branched 1.0Ad−NPBI membrane exhibited a proton conductivity of up to 155.8 mS cm<sup>−1</sup>. In an H<sub>2</sub>−O<sub>2</sub> fuel cell (0.6 mg cm<sup>−2</sup> Pt), it achieved a peak power density of 1022.4 mW cm<sup>−2</sup> at 180 °C. After absorbing KOH solution, its hydroxide ion conductivity reached 176.7 mS cm<sup>−1</sup>, and it delivered a current density of 5.4 A cm<sup>−2</sup> at 2.0 V in alkaline electrolytic water (AWE) cells (in 6 M KOH, at 80 °C). It confirms that branching is a very suitable strategy for improving the performance of PBI.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":368,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Membrane Science","volume":"738 ","pages":"Article 124769"},"PeriodicalIF":9.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145218543","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Wenjing Tang , Bojun Li , Boyuan Xuan , Shaomin Liu , Rui Mo , Sihan Shao , Yushuang Liang , Yanwen Wei , Changwei Zhao
{"title":"Interfacial construction of PIM-based interlayers in nanofiltration membranes for efficient saline wastewater treatment","authors":"Wenjing Tang , Bojun Li , Boyuan Xuan , Shaomin Liu , Rui Mo , Sihan Shao , Yushuang Liang , Yanwen Wei , Changwei Zhao","doi":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124779","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124779","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The coexistence of inorganic salts and organic micropollutants, such as dyes and antibiotics, in saline wastewater presents a significant challenge for effective water treatment. Nanofiltration (NF) membranes have emerged as a promising technology for the simultaneous removal of these pollutants. However, the performance is often constrained by the intrinsic trade-off between permeability and selectivity. To address this limitation, polymers of intrinsic microporosity (PIMs) were introduced as an interlayer to modulate the interfacial polymerization process, resulting in the formation of a highly crosslinked and wrinkled selective layer (∼12 nm) that significantly enhanced both permeability and molecular selectivity. The optimized NF membrane exhibited a remarkable increase in water flux (24.2 L m<sup>−2</sup> h<sup>−1</sup>·bar<sup>−1</sup>) compared to the pristine membrane (13.8 L m<sup>−2</sup> h<sup>−1</sup>·bar<sup>−1</sup>), while maintaining a high Na<sub>2</sub>SO<sub>4</sub> rejection rate (>98.5 %). To elucidate the formation mechanism of the selective layer, dansyl chloride was employed as a fluorescent probe, enabling visualization of monomer adsorption during interfacial polymerization. Molecular simulations further revealed that the PIM interlayer enhanced piperazine adsorption at the interface while restricting its diffusion into the organic phase. In addition, the membrane demonstrated excellent antifouling performance, long-term operational stability, and superior ion separation, achieving a Cl<sup>−</sup>/SO<sub>4</sub><sup>2−</sup> selectivity of 71.7, six times higher than the commercial NF membrane. Outstanding separation was also achieved in dye/salt and antibiotic/salt systems, with separation factors exceeding 240.0 for Congo Red/NaCl. This study provides valuable insights into the rational design of NF membranes with enhanced permeability and selectivity, offering a promising strategy for the efficient removal for inorganic salts and organic pollutant in advanced water treatment applications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":368,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Membrane Science","volume":"738 ","pages":"Article 124779"},"PeriodicalIF":9.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145263334","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Zhongyue Sun , Weiwei Zhou , Xinwei Kang , Jianjun Zhu , Daoji Wu , Feiyue Ge , Daliang Xu , Feiyong Chen , Liu Yang , Xuewu Zhu
{"title":"Integrating heat curing and interfacial polymerization into a single process: A synergistic strategy for tailoring high-performance nanofiltration membranes","authors":"Zhongyue Sun , Weiwei Zhou , Xinwei Kang , Jianjun Zhu , Daoji Wu , Feiyue Ge , Daliang Xu , Feiyong Chen , Liu Yang , Xuewu Zhu","doi":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124775","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124775","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Interfacial polymerization (IP) is a widely adopted method for fabricating thin-film composite (TFC) nanofiltration (NF) membranes due to its advantages in achieving rapid reaction kinetics and precise control over active layer formation. However, conventional IP processes are plagued by high energy consumption, prolonged processing times, and significant carbon footprints. To address these challenges, this study introduces a novel IP strategy that replaces traditional oven curing with direct heating of the organic phase during the polymerization process. Compared to conventional TFC-O membranes prepared via standard IP, the novel TFC-T membranes exhibit enhanced crosslinking density, superior hydrophilicity, and elevated negative surface charge. The optimized TFC-T membranes demonstrated excellent rejection of common pharmaceutical contaminants (e.g., ciprofloxacin and tetracycline), and robust purification capability for surface water. Critically, this novel IP process could reduce reaction time, energy consumption, thus slashing carbon emissions compared to conventional methods. The proposed novel IP provides a scalable pathway toward carbon-neutral water treatment technologies while maintaining high-performance separation characteristics, bridging theoretical innovation and industrial feasibility in membrane science.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":368,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Membrane Science","volume":"738 ","pages":"Article 124775"},"PeriodicalIF":9.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145218545","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yao Du , Jianfeng Zhang , Haimeng Huang , Xue Yan , Lingzhi Cao , Tianmeng Zhang , Jefferson Zhe Liu , Mengni Ge , Xing Yang , Meng Li , Hongzhi Cui
{"title":"Novel electro-assisted TPPG separation membrane: Fabrication and separation performance for organic compounds and salts","authors":"Yao Du , Jianfeng Zhang , Haimeng Huang , Xue Yan , Lingzhi Cao , Tianmeng Zhang , Jefferson Zhe Liu , Mengni Ge , Xing Yang , Meng Li , Hongzhi Cui","doi":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124774","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124774","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Efficient separation of small-molecule organics (e.g., dyes, pharmaceuticals, peptides) and salt ions is critical for resource cycling and zero-liquid-discharge wastewater treatment. However, conventional pressure-driven membrane processes are limited by the ubiquitous permeability-selectivity trade-off and often suffer from inadequate fouling resistance. This study developed a self-entangled topological membrane with an irregularly interpenetrated network by physical mixing conductive polypyrrole-coated bacterial cellulose (PPy@BC) with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and then was stabilized with a glutaraldehyde (GA) crosslinking (denoted as TPPG). Using a self-designed electric field-coupled cross-flow setup, the TPPG membrane achieved an ultrahigh rejection ratio of 99.9 % for organic compounds (>250 Da), whereas almost zero rejection ratio ≤0.3 % for salt ions (mono-, di-, and trivalent). It should also be pointed out that this outstanding performance showed no decay even after 24 h or more of operation. Simultaneously, it delivered an exceptional water flux of ∼850 L m<sup>−2</sup> h<sup>−1</sup>·bar<sup>−1</sup>, surpassing most of commercial or literature-reported membranes by 1–2 orders of magnitude. Based on continuum modelling, the applied electric field (regardless of polarity) was revealed to be capable of enhancing confinement-induced concentration polarization and electrostatic repulsion within the TPPG's topological nanochannels by restructuring the double electrical layer. The transmembrane transport of salt ions was thereby accelerated, enabling their complete separation from organics. This work opens a new avenue for precise and highly efficient membrane based separation of small-molecule organics and salts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":368,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Membrane Science","volume":"738 ","pages":"Article 124774"},"PeriodicalIF":9.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145218488","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mengmeng Fang , Wenshuo Cui , Qin Shen , Shuai Wang , Chuanjie Fang , Liping Zhu
{"title":"Narrowed pore size distribution of positively charged nanofiltration membranes via interlayer-tailored interfacial polymerization for lithium extraction","authors":"Mengmeng Fang , Wenshuo Cui , Qin Shen , Shuai Wang , Chuanjie Fang , Liping Zhu","doi":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124771","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124771","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Positively charged polyamide (PA) nanofiltration (NF) membranes fabricated via interfacial polymerization of polyethyleneimine (PEI) and trimesoyl chloride (TMC) hold great potential for lithium extraction from salt-lake brines, but still face challenges in precise Li<sup>+</sup>/Mg<sup>2+</sup> separation under high-salinity conditions due to broad pore size distribution and electrostatic shielding. Herein, we designed a PEI/TMC-based PA membrane with enhanced positive charge and narrowed pore size distribution. These properties were regulated by an interlayer fabricated via a Schiff base reaction between polyallylamine (PAA) and glutaraldehyde (GA) on a polysulfone (PSf) substrate. The enrichment and diffusion of amine monomers were regulated by the interlayer, as confirmed through experiments and molecular dynamics simulations. As a result, a PA layer with narrowed pore size distribution (<em>σ</em><sub><em>p</em></sub> reduced from 1.36 to 1.21), increased positive surface charge, and reduced thickness was obtained. The optimized interlayer polyamide (iPA) membrane demonstrated a remarkable Li<sup>+</sup>/Mg<sup>2+</sup> separation factor up to 174.1 in simulated brine, a two-fold increase in water permeance of 5.5 L m<sup>−2</sup> h<sup>−1</sup> bar<sup>−1</sup>, as well as excellent long-term separation stability under high-salinity conditions. This work highlights the potential of iPA membranes for achieving both high lithium purity and recovery, offering a promising avenue for lithium extraction from high-concentration salt-lake brines.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":368,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Membrane Science","volume":"738 ","pages":"Article 124771"},"PeriodicalIF":9.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145263463","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jiaqi Wang , Mufei Li , Jingmeng Wan , Jingui Duan , Wanqin Jin
{"title":"Enhancing natural gas purification in mixed matrix membranes: Stepwise MOF filler functionalization through amino grafting and defect engineering","authors":"Jiaqi Wang , Mufei Li , Jingmeng Wan , Jingui Duan , Wanqin Jin","doi":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124765","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124765","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Efficient gas separations are crucial for sustainable energy production and industrial processes, yet membrane materials face a fundamental permeability–selectivity trade-off. Here, we overcome this limitation through a rational stepwise-functionalization strategy for metal–organic framework (MOF) fillers, which synergistically combines amino grafting (enhancing CO<sub>2</sub> affinity) with defect engineering (enabling accelerated transport). The resulting mixed matrix membrane exhibits exceptional CO<sub>2</sub>/CH<sub>4</sub> separation performance—achieving a CO<sub>2</sub> permeability of 1900 Barrer and a selectivity of 63 (0.3 MPa, 25 °C)—surpassing membranes with pristine or solely amino-functionalized fillers and exceeding the 2019 Robeson upper bound. In-situ spectroscopy confirms the critical role of amino groups in CO<sub>2</sub> chemisorption, while transport modelling attributes enhanced permeation to engineered defects. Crucially, the separation performance is fully recoverable after thermal/pressure cycling and remains stable over 200 h of operation. The fundamental insights of this work establish a synergistic chemical–structural design route for next-generation separation membranes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":368,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Membrane Science","volume":"738 ","pages":"Article 124765"},"PeriodicalIF":9.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145263552","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Dandan Cai , Tiegen Guo , Ge Chao , Xudong Fu , Qingting Liu , Shengfei Hu , Rong Zhang , Kang Geng , Nanwen Li
{"title":"Rigid hydrophobic group-modified polybenzimidazole as proton exchange membranes for high-temperature fuel cells","authors":"Dandan Cai , Tiegen Guo , Ge Chao , Xudong Fu , Qingting Liu , Shengfei Hu , Rong Zhang , Kang Geng , Nanwen Li","doi":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124773","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124773","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Superior overall performance is crucial for advancing high-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFC). In this study, we report a series of polybenzimidazole copolymer membranes by incorporating various aromatic rigid hydrophobic units (phenylene, biphenyl, and terphenyl) into poly(2,2′-m-(phenylene)-5,5′-bibenzimidazole) (<em>m</em>PBI) main chains. These membranes show increased free volume and hydrophobic properties. As a result, after doping with phosphoric acid, the HT-PEMs demonstrate enhanced oxidative stability and good PA retention across different relative humidity and temperatures. The fuel cell based on PA-doped Tp-mPBI-1/9 with terphenyl exhibits the highest peak power density retention after cycling from 1 V to 0.1 V at different low temperatures (80 °C/40 °C). Furthermore, Tp-mPBI-1/9 delivers steadily increasing single-cell performance (675 mW cm<sup>−2</sup>) at 220 °C and effectively broadens the operating window. Stability testing of Tp-mPBI-1/9-based single cells at 0.3 A cm<sup>−2</sup>/160 °C resulted in a voltage decay rate of 73.2 μV h<sup>−1</sup>. Based on their excellent comprehensive performance, fine-tuning of the PBI backbone structure optimized the PBI membranes for HT-PEM applications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":368,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Membrane Science","volume":"738 ","pages":"Article 124773"},"PeriodicalIF":9.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145263400","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Zuyu Li , Yuhui Ci , Min He , Yanbin Yun , Zhi Qiu , Lihua Wang
{"title":"Using “rigid - flexible” collaborative strategy to construct high performance alkyl - piperidinium grafted polybenzimidazole membranes for efficient CO2 reduction","authors":"Zuyu Li , Yuhui Ci , Min He , Yanbin Yun , Zhi Qiu , Lihua Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124764","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124764","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Polybenzimidazole (PBI) membrane demonstrates considerable potential for application in electrochemical CO<sub>2</sub> reduction (ECR), owing to its exceptional physicochemical properties. However, the PBI is limited by its intrinsic low ionic conductivity. Grafting is an effective method for enhancing microphase separation and ionic conductivity for PBI membrane. Here, a series of piperidinium-functional OPBI membranes (OPBI-n-Pip, n = 2, 6, 10) were designed and prepared using the “rigid-flexible” collaborative strategy. The backbone of OPBI-n-Pip polymer effectively suppress membrane swelling, while flexible piperidinium cations side chains offer dimensional stability and ionic conductivity. Furthermore, the ion transport and stability mechanism of OPBI-n-Pip membranes are revealed by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Notably, OPBI-6-Pip membrane exhibited best performance such as low area resistance (0.16 Ω cm<sup>2</sup>, at 20 °C), limited swelling ratio (25.0 %) and robust alkaline stability in 1 M KOH (91.6 % retention after 1440 h, at 30 °C). In ECR systems, the OPBI-6-Pip membrane demonstrated high CO faraday efficiency (FEco) of 93.6 % at 100 mA cm<sup>−2</sup>. This work provides good guidance for the practical implementation of PBI in electrochemical energy systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":368,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Membrane Science","volume":"738 ","pages":"Article 124764"},"PeriodicalIF":9.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145263399","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Hooralain Bushnaq , Ishfaq Showket Mir , Harikrishnan Balakrishnan , Tom Burton , Julio Carrera Montoya , Julio Rodriguez-Andres , Jason Mackenzie , Giovanni Palmisano , James Mcelhinney , Srinivas Mettu , Younes Messaddeq , Ludovic F. Dumée
{"title":"Integrating photodynamic disinfection during water filtration for bacteria and viruses management with zinc phthalocyanine-embedded bacterial cellulose membranes","authors":"Hooralain Bushnaq , Ishfaq Showket Mir , Harikrishnan Balakrishnan , Tom Burton , Julio Carrera Montoya , Julio Rodriguez-Andres , Jason Mackenzie , Giovanni Palmisano , James Mcelhinney , Srinivas Mettu , Younes Messaddeq , Ludovic F. Dumée","doi":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124767","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124767","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Biofouling remains a major obstacle to membrane longevity and efficiency in water treatment, driving the need for membranes with intrinsic antimicrobial properties. This study demonstrates a novel, one-step biosynthesis approach for fabricating Zinc Phthalocyanine (ZnPc)- functionalized Bacterial Cellulose (BC) composite membranes by incorporating ZnPc directly into the <em>Komagataeibacter hansenii (K. hansenii)</em> growth medium. Despite the known antimicrobial activity of ZnPc under irradiation, its presence in the culture medium in dark conditions did not compromise bacterial viability or cellulose production, enabling the successful <em>in situ</em> formation of a mixed matrix membrane during fermentation. Structural characterization confirmed that ZnPc incorporation did not alter the nanofibrous architecture of BC. The composite membranes exhibited visible-light-activated photodynamic activity, enhancing both photocatalytic and antimicrobial performance, with photodegradation experiments under static conditions demonstrating efficient photodynamic degradation of methylene blue and underscoring the broad potential of ZnPc–BC composite membranes for concurrent microbial inactivation and organic pollutant removal. Filtration experiments confirmed the bacterial rejection and the biofouling resistance of the ZnPc-BC composite membranes, with the 3 wt% ZnPc-BC composite membrane achieving 99.8 ± 0.20 % <em>E. coli</em> rejection and 98.8 ± 0.9 % permeance recovery under irradiation. However, antiviral activity was minimal, due to electrostatic repulsion at neutral pH, which limited viral adsorption and reduced photodynamic inactivation efficiency. Collectively, this bio-integrated fabrication strategy offers a sustainable and scalable route for producing multifunctional membranes that combine the advantages of bio-derived nanofibrous scaffolds with light-activated antimicrobic properties. The effective incorporation of ZnPc into the BC membrane matrix during biosynthesis opens new opportunities for green fabrication of advanced filtration materials for water treatment and biomedical applications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":368,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Membrane Science","volume":"738 ","pages":"Article 124767"},"PeriodicalIF":9.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145218541","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Main-chain densely sulfonated poly(phenylquinoxaline) PEMs: Achieving high power density in DMFCs via microphase methodology","authors":"Weiwei Zhang, Chenxing Hu, Xinsheng Qiu, Hansheng Li, Qin Wu, Daxin Shi, Yaoyuan Zhang, Kangcheng Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124768","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124768","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A series of sulfonic acid groups densely on main chain in random (R-SPPQs) and multiblock (MB-SPPQs) form polyphenylquinoline proton exchange membranes (PEMs) with acid-base ion crosslinking were synthesized. The relationship between membrane selectivity of proton conductivity (<em>σ</em>)/methanol permeability (<em>P</em><sub>MeOH</sub>) and microstructure is investigated. R-SPPQs PEMs benefit from acid-base ion crosslinking. Ion exchange capacity (IEC) changing from 1.73 to 2.40 meq g<sup>−1</sup>, <em>P</em><sub>MeOH</sub> increases from 1.89 × 10<sup>−7</sup> to 3.15 × 10<sup>−7</sup> cm<sup>2</sup> s<sup>−1</sup>, approximately 1/10 that of NR212. R-SPPQ-5 shows the highest relative membrane selectivity (RS) of 5.5. Its maximum power density (<em>W</em><sub>max</sub>) of 100 mW cm<sup>−2</sup> exceeds that of NR212 (70 mW cm<sup>−2</sup>). Low repetitive structural units of MB-SPPQ-0505 with unconnected hydrophilic microphase-separation structure exhibit promoted <em>σ</em> of 103 mS cm−1 at 60 °C, outperforming R-SPPQ-4 with similar IEC by 45 %. The <em>P</em><sub>MeOH</sub> value of 4.7 × 10<sup>−7</sup> cm<sup>2</sup> s<sup>−1</sup> represents a 66 % increase over that of R-SPPQ-4, with a slight decrease in RS to 4.4. Its <em>W</em><sub>max</sub> is 103 mW cm<sup>−2</sup>. This stems from the combination of low internal resistance and low <em>P</em><sub>MeOH</sub>. There's no significant attenuation in battery performance in the 50-h durability test, indicating promising potential application prospects in direct methanol fuel cells. Increased repetitive structural units of MB-SPPQ-1010 with interconnected microphase-separated structure, resulting in a further 17 % increase in <em>σ</em> than MB-SPPQ-0505 at 60 °C. Whereas <em>P</em><sub>MeOH</sub> is elevated to 10.4 × 10<sup>−7</sup> cm<sup>2</sup> s<sup>−1</sup>, resulting in a decrease in RS to 2.7. Its <em>W</em><sub>max</sub> drops to 65 mW cm<sup>−2</sup>.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":368,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Membrane Science","volume":"738 ","pages":"Article 124768"},"PeriodicalIF":9.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145263416","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}