Anion Transport Membrane
AssigneeThe Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University
InventorsSteve S. He, Curtis W. Frank
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Abstract
An anion transport membrane is provided enabling efficient anion exchange across the membrane, which could be used in applications like fuel cells, water electrolyzers, or water filtration systems. The structural membrane morphology is based on a hydrophobic polysulfone membrane backbone and co-grafted thereon hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol) grafts and anion conducting quaternary ammonium species. This structure defines a bi-continuous morphology with locally phase-separated hydrophobic-hydrophilic domains, and a co-localization of the anion conducting quaternary ammonium species with respect to the hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol) grafts enabling efficient and continuous ion transport channels for facilitating anion transport.
Claims4
An anion transport membrane, comprising:
- a hydrophobic polysulfone membrane backbone with co-grafted thereon hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol) grafts and anion conducting quaternary ammonium species, wherein the membrane has a top surface and a bottom surface, and wherein the membrane is further characterized by having:
- (i) a bi-continuous morphology with locally phase-separated hydrophobic-hydrophilic domains, and
- (ii) a co-localization of the anion conducting quaternary ammonium species with respect to the hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol) grafts, therewith having defined ion transport channels for facilitating anion transport, wherein the ion transport channels are continuous ion transport channels across the membrane and between the top and bottom surfaces of the membrane, and wherein the ion transport channels have an average diameter of about 3-30 nm defined by an average width of a hydrophilic or a water-rich region separating hydrophobic or water-poor regions.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.