Over the last decade, anion-exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs) have continued to show steady power output and durability improvements at low temperatures of 60oC–80oC. However, AEMFC durability still lags, largely due to the critical issue of water management. High-temperature operation (R100oC) enables simplified water management, but additional material stability challenges remain, particularly concerning the chemical stability of the anionexchange membranes (AEMs). Herein, we report the synthesis of lightly branched poly(arylene piperidinium) AEMs, leading to balanced water management and sufficient stability. The optimized membranes demonstrate high-temperature H2/O2 AEMFC operation at 100oC, with a peak power density of 2 W cm-2 and durability over a 195-h period under a constant current density of 600 mA cm-2 with only 4% voltage decay. This work illustrates an effective AEM design strategy through high temperature operation to resolve water management issues, thereby improving AEMFC performance and durability.
