Issue 1, 2023

Poly(alkyl-biphenyl pyridinium) anion exchange membranes with a hydrophobic side chain for mono-/divalent anion separation

Abstract

A series of poly(alkyl-biphenyl pyridinium) anion exchange membranes (AEMs) with a hydrophobic side chain were prepared for mono-/divalent anion separation using electrodialysis (ED). A poly(alkyl-biphenyl pyridinium) polymer was synthesized via superacid-catalyzed polymerization, and then quaternization was conducted using Menshutkin reactions with 1-bromopentane. The obtained quaternized product had excellent solubility in common organic solvents, making it flexible to form homogeneous membranes by a solution casting method. The introduction of a hydrophobic side chain resulted in a microphase separation structure in the membrane, which is favorable to the active transport of Cl (higher Cl flux of up to 3.37 mol m−2 h−1 at a 10 mA cm−2 current density) compared with that of SO42− ions giving a high permselectivity of 11.9 in a mixed salt (NaCl/Na2SO4) system. In addition, the prepared membrane exhibited excellent alkaline stability in successive ED tests. It showed an OH flux of up to 3.6 mol m−2 h−1 with a permselectivity of 361.2 between OH and WO42−, which is much higher than that of Neosepta ACS membrane. The ED results manifest that the poly(alkyl-biphenyl pyridinium) AEMs can be promising candidates for practical mono-/divalent anion separation in industry.

Keywords: Superacid-catalyzed polymerization; Anion exchange membrane; Mono-/divalent anion separation; Electrodialysis; Permselectivity.

Graphical abstract: Poly(alkyl-biphenyl pyridinium) anion exchange membranes with a hydrophobic side chain for mono-/divalent anion separation

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Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
11 nov 2022
Accepted
03 jan 2023
First published
04 jan 2023
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Ind. Chem. Mater., 2023,1, 129-139

Poly(alkyl-biphenyl pyridinium) anion exchange membranes with a hydrophobic side chain for mono-/divalent anion separation

H. Yang, N. U. Afsar, Q. Chen, X. Ge, X. Li, L. Ge and T. Xu, Ind. Chem. Mater., 2023, 1, 129 DOI: 10.1039/D2IM00043A

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