We compared the alkaline stability of three classes of anion exchange membranes that are leading candidates for applications in platinum-free fuel cells. A methodology is presented for the study of chemical stability of anion-exchange polymers in alkaline media that provides clear and quantitative 1H NMR spectroscopic data of dissolved polymers containing benzyltrimethylammonium functionalities. Recent studies have investigated the stabilities of benzimidazolium- and alkylimidazolium-bearing polymers using periodic 1H NMR sampling. These studies included varying alkaline concentrations, external heating sources, and excessive processing and contained no internal standard for absolute measurements. Key aspects of our time-resolved 1H NMR method include in situ heating and sampling within the spectrometer, fixed stoichiometric relationships between the benzyltrimethylammonium functionalities of each polymer and potassium deuteroxide (KOD), and the incorporation of an internal standard for the absolute measurement of the polymer degradation. In addition, our method permits the identification of the degradation products to find the underlying cause of chemical lability. Our results demonstrate that a styrene-based polymer containing benzyltrimethylammonium functional groups is remarkably stable when exposed to 20 equivalents per cation of KOD at 80 °C with a half-life (t 1/2) of 231 h. Under these standard conditions, functionalized poly(phenylene oxide) and poly(arylene ether sulfone) copolymers, both bearing benzyltrimethylammonium functionalities were found to degrade with a half-lives of 57.8 and 2.7 h, respectively.

The charge mobility of organic semiconductors are accurately predicted using first principles simulations validated by inelastic neutron scattering experiments.

Current performance targets for anion exchange membrane (AEM) fuel cells call for greater than 95% alkaline stability for 5000 h at temperatures of up to 120 °C. Using this target temperature of 120 °C, we provide an incisive 1 H nuclear magnetic resonance-based alkaline degradation method to identify the degradation products of n-alkyl spacer tetraalkylammonium cations in various AEM polymers and small molecule analogues. The operative alkaline degradation mechanisms and rates on benzyltrimethylammonium-, n-alkyl interstitial spacer-, and n-alkyl terminal chain-cations are compared in several architectures. Our findings indicate that benzyltrimethylammonium and n-alkyl terminal pendant cations are significantly more labile than an nalkyl interstitial spacer cation. Additionally, we found that the alkaline stability of an n-alkyl interstitial spacer cation is enhanced when it is combined with an n-alkyl terminal pendant. At 120 °C, an inverse trend was observed in the overall stability of AEM poly(styrene) and AEM poly(phenylene oxide) samples compared to what has been shown at 80 °C. Follow-up small molecule studies suggest that at 120 °C, a 1,4-elimination degradation mechanism may be activated on styrenic AEM polymers capable of forming hyperconjugated resonance hybrids.

Bipolaron states, in which two electrons or two holes occupy a single molecule or conjugated polymer segment, are typically considered to be negligible in organic semiconductor devices due to Coulomb repulsion between the two charges. Here we use charge modulation spectroscopy to reveal a bipolaron sheet density >1010 cm−2 at the interface between an indium tin oxide anode and the common small molecule organic semiconductor N,N′-Bis(3-methylphenyl)-N,N′-diphenylbenzidine. We find that the magnetocurrent response of hole-only devices correlates closely with changes in the bipolaron concentration, supporting the bipolaron model of unipolar organic magnetoresistance and suggesting that it may be more of an interface than a bulk phenomenon. These results are understood on the basis of a quantitative interface energy level alignment model, which indicates that bipolarons are generally expected to be significant near contacts in the Fermi level pinning regime and thus may be more prevalent in organic electronic devices than previously thought.