Improving the alkaline stability of imidazolium cations by substitution.

Imidazolium cations are promising candidates for preparing anion-exchange membranes because of their good alkaline stability. Substitution of imidazolium cations is an efficient way to improve their alkaline stability. By combining density functional theory calculations with experimental results, it is found that the LUMO energy correlates with the alkaline stability of imidazolium cations. The results indicate that alkyl groups are the most suitable substituents for the N3 position of imidazolium cations, and the LUMO energies of alkyl-substituted imidazolium cations depend on the electron-donating effect and the hyperconjugation effect. Comparing 1,2-dimethylimidazolium cations (1,2-DMIm+) and 1,3-dimethylimidazolium cations (1,3-DMIm+) with the same substituents reveals that the hyperconjugation effect is more significant in influencing the LUMO energy of 1,3-DMIms. This investigation reveals that LUMO energy is a helpful aid in predicting the alkaline stability of imidazolium cations.

Effects of substituents and substitution positions on alkaline stability of imidazolium cations and their corresponding anion-exchange membranes.

Imidazolium cations with butyl groups at various substitution positions (N1-, C2-, and N3-), 1-butyl-2,3-dimethylimidazolium ([N1-BDMIm](+)), 2-butyl-1,3-dimethylimidazolium ([C2-BDMIm](+)), and 3-butyl-1,2-dimethylimidazolium ([N3-BDMIm](+)), were synthesized. Quantitative (1)H NMR spectra and density functional theory calculation were applied to investigate the chemical stability of the imidazolium cations in alkaline solutions. The results suggested that the alkaline stability of the imidazolium cations was drastically affected by the C2-substitution groups. The alkaline stability of imidazolium cations with various substitution groups at the C2-position, including 2-ethyl-1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium ([C2-EBMIm](+)), 1,2-dibutyl-3-methylimidazolium ([C2-BBMIm](+)), and 2-hydroxymethyl-1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium ([C2-HMBMIm](+)), was further studied. The butyl group substituted imidazolium cation ([C2-BBMIm](+)) exhibited the highest alkaline stability at the elevated temperatures. The synthesized anion-exchange membranes based on the [C2-BBMIm](+) cation showed promising alkaline stability. These observations should pave the way to the practical application of imidazolium-based anion exchange membrane fuel cells.