Highly hydroxide conductive ionomers with fullerene functionalitiesElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Synthesis, NMR characterization, TGA, LSV etc. See DOI: 10.1039/c5cc09024e

A novel ionomer was designed that will not poison the catalyst in alkaline fuel cells, by incorporating for the first time N -methyl pyrrolidine-C 60 cation in polymeric anion exchange ionomers. The resultant fullerene-based anion exchange ionomer shows an extremely high hydroxide conductivity (182 mS cm −1 ) at a low cation concentration (0.62 mmol g −1 ). A novel ionomer was designed that will not poison the catalyst in alkaline fuel cells, by incorporating for the first time N -methyl pyrrolidine-C 60 cation in polymeric anion exchange ionomers.