Pulsed plasma polymerization is adopted to synthesize alkaline anion-exchange membranes (AAEMs) with high contents of functional groups. The attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and thermo gravimetric analysis demonstrate that the benzyltrimethylammonium cationic groups can be successfully introduced into the polymer matrix. The content of the quaternary nitrogen in pulsed plasma-polymerized membrane is up to 1.93atom%. The ultra-flat and undamaged morphology structure of the AAEMs indicates a low plasma ablation effect in the pulsed plasma polymerization. The excellent properties of the pulsed plasma-polymerized AAEMs, including good adhesion to the substrate, acceptable chemical stability and thermal stability, high ion-exchange capacity (1.42mmolg −1 ) and water uptake (59.73wt%), interesting ionic conductivity (0.0205Scm −1 in deionized water at 20°C) and ethanol permeability (3.37×10 −11 m 2 s −1 ), suggest a great potential for application in direct alcohol fuel cells.