Assembling covalent organic framework membranes with superior ion exchange capacity.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Polymer Chemistry
• Electrochemistry

Background:

• Ionic covalent organic framework membranes (iCOFMs) offer potential for ion conduction due to high content and monodispersed ionic groups.
• Maximizing ion exchange capacity (IEC) is crucial for enhancing ion conductivity in iCOFMs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore novel iCOFMs with exceptionally high ion exchange capacity.
• To investigate a dual-activation interfacial polymerization strategy for improved iCOFM synthesis.
• To evaluate the proton conductivity and potential applications of the developed iCOFMs.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a dual-activation interfacial polymerization strategy.
• Employed Brønsted acid and base for monomer activation.
• Applied Fukui function as a descriptor for monomer reactivity.
• Synthesized iCOFMs with high crystallinity.

Main Results:

• Achieved superhigh ion exchange capacity of 4.6 mmol g^-1.
• Demonstrated a prominent proton conductivity of up to 0.66 S cm^-1.
• The dual-activation strategy significantly accelerated interfacial polymerization.

Conclusions:

• The developed iCOFMs exhibit superior ion conduction properties.
• The dual-activation strategy is effective for creating high-performance iCOFMs.
• These iCOFMs show significant promise for ion transport and ionic separation applications.