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Review
. 2021 Jun 4;13(11):1874.
doi: 10.3390/polym13111874.

Silica Containing Composite Anion Exchange Membranes by Sol-Gel Synthesis: A Short Review

Emanuela Sgreccia  1 , Riccardo Narducci  1 , Philippe Knauth  2 , Maria Luisa Di Vona  1
Affiliations
Review

Silica Containing Composite Anion Exchange Membranes by Sol-Gel Synthesis: A Short Review

Emanuela Sgreccia et al. Polymers (Basel). .

Abstract

This short review summarizes the literature on composite anion exchange membranes (AEM) containing an organo-silica network formed by sol-gel chemistry. The article covers AEM for diffusion dialysis (DD), for electrochemical energy technologies including fuel cells and redox flow batteries, and for electrodialysis. By applying a vast variety of organically modified silica compounds (ORMOSIL), many composite AEM reported in the last 15 years are based on poly (vinylalcohol) (PVA) or poly (2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) (PPO) used as polymer matrix. The most stringent requirements are high permselectivity and water flux for DD membranes, while high ionic conductivity is essential for electrochemical applications. Furthermore, the alkaline stability of AEM for fuel cell applications remains a challenging problem that is not yet solved. Possible future topics of investigation on composite AEM containing an organo-silica network are also discussed.

Keywords: diffusion dialysis; electrodialysis; fuel cells; ionomers; ormosils; redox flow batteries.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic synthesis of AEM showing the role of glycidyl and alkoxysilane groups. Reprinted from Reference [47] with permission from Elsevier.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Scanning electron micrographs of porous AEM with ionic liquid: (a–c) corresponds to a low amount of ionic liquid, while (d–f) has a higher ionic liquid loading. Reprinted from Reference [53] with permission from Elsevier.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Synthetic routes of hybrid membranes based on poly (VBC-co-MPS) and PVA. Reprinted from Reference [59] with permission from Elsevier.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Schematic diffusion dialysis process. Reprinted from Reference [66] with permission from Elsevier.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Synthesis routes for composite membrane (left) or linked silica network (right). Reprinted from Reference [80] with permission from Elsevier.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Schematic synthesis of polynorbornene based AEM. Reproduced from Reference [80] with permission from the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Synthesis routes for hybrid membranes by (a) in-situ and (b) ex-situ sol–gel techniques [90].
Figure 8
Figure 8
Zwitterionic membrane for electrodialysis. Reprinted from Reference [98] with permission from Elsevier.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Relative amount of papers on the three main applications of sol–gel AEM and major polymer precursors and Si sources for these applications.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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