Poly(vinyl chloride)-Based Anion-Exchange Membrane with High-Antifouling Potential for Electrodialysis Application

Abstract

The development of facile approaches to fabricate cost-effective anion-exchange membranes (AEMs) with desirable antifouling potential can promote wider AEM-based applications. In this work, we report an easy method for the preparation of AEMs using cost-effective poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) via immersing the PVC films in triethylenetetramine (TETA) solution under mild conditions. The as-prepared AEMs with low surface area resistance in a range of 1.33−5.94 Ω•cm 2 have the crosslinking structure, possessing good membrane integrity in dimethylacetamide (DMAc) for 30 days at room temperature, which has been experimentally evidenced. Our investigations demonstrate that the as-prepared AEMs show a superior antifouling potential with the longest transition time (>2100 min) using sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate as a model foulant (relative to commercial JAM-II-5 AEM of 170 min). Possibly, the suppressed affinity interactions (π−π interaction) from the aliphatic matrix and the physical isolation contribute to the enhanced antifouling performance through electrostatic repulsion between foulants and membrane surface. In addition, electrodialysis (ED) with the optimized AEM show NaCl removal ratio of 90.2%, current efficiency of 65.8%, and energy consumption of 1.99 kW•h•kg −1 NaCl, outperforming those of JAM-II-5 AEM (80.7%; 64.5%; 4.43 kW•h•kg −1 NaCl), respectively. This facile preparation of AEMs with good performance indicates its potential application.

Poly(Vinyl Alcohol)-Based Anion Exchange Membranes with Improved Antifouling Potentials and Reduced Swelling Ratios for Electrodialysis Application

“…In addition, Freger et al 16 also found that grafting poly(ethylene glycol) on the surface of polyimide membranes improved the hydrophobicity of the polyimide membrane surface and the antifouling performance was also greatly improved. Liu et al 17 enhanced the antifouling performance of the cross-linking membranebased poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) by avoiding π−π interactions between pollutants and the membrane.…”

Recent progress in anion exchange membranes (AEMs) in water electrolysis: synthesis, physio-chemical analysis, properties, and applications

“…The smooth morphology (dark hydrophilic region) observed for the PVC membrane was cross-linked with triethylenetetramine (TETA), followed by quaternization with an 8 h process in 0.1 M NaCl. 129 In contrast, the dark hydrophilic region was not observed clearly for the 14 h process due to ion suppression.…”

“…However, combining copolymers via this method is expensive due to the extensive use of chemicals, the reaction under low temperatures (−15 to 0 °C), and the timeconsuming and multistep procedures. The one-step, low-cost process of aliphatic polymer PVC-based AEMs (e.g., PVC45) was recently developed by Liu et al 129 PVC was dissolved in DMAc at 60 °C with stirring. Aerward, the dissolved solution was cast onto the glass and directed at 60 °C overnight to prepare the membrane.…”

“…The one-step, low-cost process of aliphatic polymer PVC-based AEMs ( e.g. , PVC45) was recently developed by Liu et al 129 PVC was dissolved in DMAc at 60 °C with stirring. Afterward, the dissolved solution was cast onto the glass and directed at 60 °C overnight to prepare the membrane.…”

“…Accordingly, the poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) membrane was quaternized with triethylenetetramine (TETA) with the degree of quaternization (4, 8, and 14 h) observed under moderate conditions. 129 At this point, a minimum of 8 h is needed for the quaternization of PVC to obtain a well-separated microphase morphology. Therefore, PVCs treated for 8 and 14 h quaternization time with TETA show better MSM than that treated for 1 h quaternization time, as confirmed through the AFM images.…”