Development of New Polyimide and Poly-triazole Membranes with Enhanced Alkaline Stability

DATE: FEBRUARY 2024
University of Chemistry and Technology Prague | Department of Polymers
Dr. Anastasiia Hubina

One of the most emerging green technologies that can afford the production of pure hydrogen is alkaline water electrolysis (AWE). PAEM is a chemically, mechanically, and thermally stable polymer, which contains cationic groups responsible for OH- transport from cathode to anode, but the main drawback of all existing PAEMs is their apparently low alkaline stability.

Our research is focused on the development of new polyimide and poly-triazole membranes that possess enhanced alkaline stability due to the position of cationic centers inside the polymer chain. Our research covers the synthesis of monomers (triazole chemistry) and then the synthesis of the Poly-triazole via click chemistry tools. This will allow us to obtain polymers with well-defined structures and thus control their properties. The second part of our research is a postpolymerization modification of polyimides containing tertiary amino groups inside the backbone. Polyimides are characterized by high chemical, thermal, and mechanical resistance, which makes them promising for application as PAEM. The aim of postpolymerization modification is to introduce cationic groups inside the backbone. The current scheme of activities of our lab is presented in Fig.2:

Fig.2. Research scheme of Polymer Membrane Lab