Fuel cells (FCs) have attracted much
attention because of their
high energy conversion efficiency and cleanliness. However, polyelectrolytes
are a key component of FCs, and their cost and performance are not
ideal at present, which is an obstacle to the development of FCs.
Polymers of intrinsic microporosity (PIM) have attracted much attention
as a class of membrane materials due to their three-dimensional pore
structure, which can provide channels for ion transport. However,
it remains challenging to prepare PIM membranes due to their poor
solubility and brittleness. A novel soluble Troger’s base (TB)-PIM
polymer is proposed in this paper. The prepared TB-based membranes
with rigid and contorted backbones exhibit excellent dimensional stability
(<8% swelling ratio at 60 °C), mechanical properties, and
thermal stability and form subnanometer cavities to allow rapid ion
transport. Therefore, the proton conductivity of the 4-(2-hydroxyethoxy)-1,3-phenylenediamine
dihydrochloride (HEPD)/4,4′-diamine-3,3′-dimethyl-biphenyl
(DMBP)-TB membrane is 58.3 mS/cm at 80 °C. The OH– conductivity of the HEPD/DMBP-QTB anion exchange membrane (AEM)
is 105.9 mS/cm at 80 °C. Moreover, the single cell assembled
with an HEPD/DMBP-QTB AEM showed a peak power density of 76.6 mW/cm2 in H2 air (CO2-free) at 60 °C.