{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,15]],"date-time":"2026-09-15T11:08:29Z","timestamp":1789470509383,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":73,"publisher":"Wiley","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,15]],"date-time":"2026-09-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1789430400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,15]],"date-time":"2026-09-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1789430400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/doi.wiley.com\/10.1002\/tdm_license_1.1"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000015","name":"U.S. Department of Energy","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["DE\u2010SC0025229"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["DE\u2010SC0025229"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000015","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Angew Chem Int Ed"],"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>\n                    This manuscript reports a mixed\u2010spacer architecture for resolving the conductivity\u2013swelling\u2013stability tradeoff in ether\u2010free anion\u2010exchange membranes (AEMs). Unlike conventional spacer engineering, which usually relies on a single spacer length, the mixed\u2010spacer approach provides an additional degree of freedom for regulating membrane properties. Using mixed\u2010spacer engineering in polycarbazoles with mixed short and long spacer side chains, we show that hydroxide transport and membrane durability can be jointly optimized through control of hydration, ionic connectivity, and local cation solvation, rather than through ion exchange capacity alone. A series of membranes with varied ratios of short (\n                    <jats:bold>C4<\/jats:bold>\n                    ) and long (\n                    <jats:bold>C6<\/jats:bold>\n                    ) alkyl spacers were synthesized via acid\u2010catalyzed Friedel\u2013Crafts polymerization followed by quaternization. The optimized membrane achieves a hydroxide conductivity of 184 mS cm\n                    <jats:sup>\u22121<\/jats:sup>\n                    at 80\u00b0C, outperforming both short\u2010spacer and long\u2010spacer counterparts. Membranes rich in\n                    <jats:bold>C4<\/jats:bold>\n                    spacers exhibit weaker alkaline stability, whereas those containing dominant\n                    <jats:bold>C6<\/jats:bold>\n                    spacers show excellent stability. In a fuel cell device, the membrane delivers a peak power density of 2.51\u00a0W cm\n                    <jats:sup>\u22122<\/jats:sup>\n                    , among the highest reported for polycarbazole AEMs. Mechanistic understanding was achieved through both experimental and computational investigations. These results demonstrate that mixed\u2010spacer molecular engineering is a promising and effective strategy for designing high\u2010performance AEMs.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1002\/anie.5745701","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,15]],"date-time":"2026-09-15T10:59:23Z","timestamp":1789469963000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Molecular Engineering of a Mixed\u2010Spacer System Toward High\u2010Performance Polycarbazole Anion\u2010Exchange Membranes"],"prefix":"10.1002","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-7543-5146","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hao","family":"Liu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry University of South Carolina  Columbia South Carolina 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