ANION CONDUCTING POLYNORBORNENES FOR NEXT-GENERATION ENERGY CONVERSION MATERIALS
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While some polymer chemists pursue strategies to deconstruct polymeric materials for sustainability efforts, there remains a strong emphasis on developing durable, long-standing polymers that enable sustainable energy technologies. In turn, advancing materials for clean energy devices that facilitate alternative energy solutions remains a persistent global challenge. This dissertation details synthetic strategies for synthesizing high-performance anion exchange polynorbornene materials to generate green hydrogen from water electrolysis. Chapter 1 introduces polynorbornene as an advantageous and tunable material for anion exchange devices. Chapter 2 details the development of a palladium catalyst for living vinyl-addition polymerizations of functional norbornenes under ambient conditions. Chapter 3 applies the tolerant catalyst to directly polymerize norbornene crosslinkers to yield high-performance, dimensionally stable anion exchange membranes for water electrolyzers. Finally, Chapter 4 leverages insights from the preceding chapters to develop a direct spray-casting method to align the interfaces of ionomers in polynorbornene-based water electrolyzer assemblies.