High-performance and durable anion exchange membranes (AEMs) are critical for realizing economical green hydrogen production through alkaline water electrolysis (AWE) or AEM water electrosysis (AEMWE). However, existing AEMs require sophisticated fabrication protocols and exhibit unsatisfactory electrochemical performance and long-term durability. Here we report an AEM fabricated via a one-pot, in situ interfacial Menshutkin reaction, which assembles a highly cross-linked polymer containing high-density quaternary ammoniums and nanovoids inside a reinforcing porous support. This structure endows the membrane with high anion-conducting ability, water uptake (but low swelling), and mechanical and thermochemical robustness. Consequently, the assembled membrane achieves excellent AWE (0.97 A cm–2 at 1.8 V) and AEMWE (5.23 A cm–2 at 1.8 V) performance at 5 wt % KOH and 80 °C, significantly exceeding that of commercial and previously developed membranes, and excellent long-term durability. Our approach provides an effective method for fabricating AEMs for various energy and environmental applications.

High-performance and durable anion exchange membranes (AEMs) are critical for realizing economical green hydrogen production through alkaline water electrolysis (AWE) or AEM water electrosysis (AEMWE). However, existing AEMs require sophisticated fabrication protocols and exhibit unsatisfactory electrochemical performance and long-term durability. Here we report an AEM fabricated via a one-pot, in situ interfacial Menshutkin reaction, which assembles a highly cross-linked polymer containing high-density quaternary ammoniums and nanovoids inside a reinforcing porous support. This structure endows the membrane with high anion-conducting ability, water uptake (but low swelling), and mechanical and thermochemical robustness. Consequently, the assembled membrane achieves excellent AWE (0.97 A cm–2 at 1.8 V) and AEMWE (5.23 A cm–2 at 1.8 V) performance at 5 wt % KOH and 80 °C, significantly exceeding that of commercial and previously developed membranes, and excellent long-term durability. Our approach provides an effective method for fabricating AEMs for various energy and environmental applications.

Green and sustainable membrane technology has recently gained attention from the membrane community to minimize the negative environmental impacts associated with conventional membrane production in industries, which rely on petrochemical engineering plastics and toxic organic solvents. While the fabrication of biobased and biodegradable polymeric membranes using common organic solvents has been reported, eco-friendly membrane-fabrication techniques using greener solvents are required to improve sustainability and reduce the negative environmental impact of the membrane industry. For the first time, this study comprehensively investigates the potential use of green solvents for preparing polylactic acid (PLA) membranes via the phase separation technique. PLA solubility and phase separation experiments, employing various green solvents were conducted to examine the potential applicability of these solvents for membrane fabrication. Porous PLA membranes exhibit different surface and pore structures depending on the thermodynamic and kinetic parameters of the green solvents. Based on the phase separation study, both fine PLA ultrafiltration membranes with controllable molecular weight cut-off and mechanically robust PLA microfiltration membranes with bi-continuous pore structure were successfully prepared using methyl lactate. The prepared green membranes showed a competitive filtration performance implying that the fully bio-based PLA membranes could substitute the conventional engineering plastic-based membranes in versatile membrane filtration and separation processes, especially single-use or consumable membrane products in environmental and healthcare industries.

There is a growing demand for adsorption technologies for recovering and recycling precious metals (PMs) in various industries. Unfortunately, amine-functionalized polymers widely used as metal adsorbents are ineffective at recovering PMs owing to their unsatisfactory PM adsorption performance. Herein, a star-shaped, hydrazide-functionalized polymer (S-PAcH) is proposed as a readily recoverable standalone adsorbent with high PM adsorption performance. The compact chain structure of S-PAcH containing numerous hydrazide groups with strong reducibility promotes PM adsorption by enhancing PM reduction while forming large, collectable precipitates. Compared with previously reported PM adsorbents, commercial amine polymers, and reducing agents, S-PAcH exhibited significantly higher adsorption capacity, selectivity, and kinetics toward three PMs (gold, palladium, and platinum) with model, simulated, and real-world feed solutions. The superior PM recovery performance of S-PAcH was attributed to its strong reduction capability combined with its chemisorption mechanism. Moreover, PM-adsorbed S-PAcH could be refined into high-purity PMs via calcination, directly utilized (upcycled) as catalysts for dye reduction, or regenerated for reuse, demonstrating its high practical feasibility. Our proposed PM adsorbents would have a tremendous impact on various industrial sectors from the perspectives of environmental protection and sustainable development.