Metal-coordinated polybenzimidazole membranes with preferential K+ transport

Membranes with fast and selective ion transport are essential for separations and electrochemical energy conversion and storage devices. Metal-coordinated polymers are promising for fabricating ion-conducting membranes with molecular channels, however, the structures and ion transport channels remai...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature communications 2023-03, Vol.14 (1), p.1149-1149, Article 1149
Main Authors: Wu, Jine, Liao, Chenyi, Li, Tianyu, Zhou, Jing, Zhang, Linjuan, Wang, Jian-Qiang, Li, Guohui, Li, Xianfeng
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
639/301/299/891
639/638/298/923/1028
639/638/455/955
Channels
Coordination
Current carriers
Electrochemistry
Electrostatic properties
Energy conversion
Energy storage
Humanities and Social Sciences
Ion transport
Ions
Iron
Membranes
Metal ions
Molecular dynamics
multidisciplinary
Polybenzimidazoles
Polymers
Potassium
Rechargeable batteries
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Transport properties
Zinc
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Summary:Membranes with fast and selective ion transport are essential for separations and electrochemical energy conversion and storage devices. Metal-coordinated polymers are promising for fabricating ion-conducting membranes with molecular channels, however, the structures and ion transport channels remain poorly understood. Here, we reported mechanistic insights into the structures of metal-ion coordinated polybenzimidazole membranes and the preferential K + transport. Molecular dynamics simulations suggested that coordination between metal ions and polybenzimidazole expanded the free volume, forming subnanometre molecular channels. The combined physical confinement in nanosized channels and electrostatic interactions of membranes resulted in a high K + transference number up to 0.9 even in concentrated salt and alkaline solutions. The zinc-coordinated polybenzimidazole membrane enabled fast transport of charge carriers as well as suppressed water migration in an alkaline zinc-iron flow battery, enabling the battery to operate stably for over 340 hours. This study provided an alternative strategy to regulate the ion transport properties of polymer membranes by tuning polymer chain architectures via metal ion coordination. Membranes with fast and selective ion transport are essential for electrochemical processes. Here the authors provide mechanistic insights into the structures of metal-ion coordinated polybenzimidazole membranes and the preferential K + transport, and their application in an alkaline zinc-iron flow battery.
ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/s41467-023-36711-w