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.
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