Prof. Licheng Sun’s group has developed a novel branched poly(aryl quinuclidinium) (PAQ-5) anion‑exchange membrane (AEM) for high‑performance water electrolysis, presenting a promising advance toward the industrialization of AEM‑WE.
Prof. Licheng Sun’s group from Center for Artificial Photosynthesis and Solar Fuels at Westlake University recently published a research paper in the Angewandte Chemie International Edition. The paper is titled “Stable Anion Exchange Membrane Bearing Quinuclidinium for High-performance Water Electrolysis.”
The work addresses a key stability limitation of conventional piperidinium‑functionalized AEMs, which are prone to degradation via Hoffman elimination under high‑temperature alkaline conditions. By introducing the rigid, cage‑structured quinuclidinium cation, the team effectively suppresses this degradation pathway, as supported by accelerated aging tests and theoretical calculations that show a significantly higher energy barrier for the elimination reaction. This combination of performance, stability, and scalable synthesis positions PAQ-5 as a competitive AEM material that can accelerate the development of efficient and durable green‑hydrogen production systems.
Ph.D. student Liqiang Yin and Assistant Researcher Rong Ren from Westlake University are the co-first authors. Prof. Licheng Sun from Center for Artificial Photosynthesis and Solar Fuels at Westlake University is the corresponding author.