The sulfonated polyether ether ketone
(SPEEK) as a cation exchange
polymer and aminated polysulfone (APSf) as an anion exchange membrane
(AEM) were synthesized to prepare bipolar membranes (BPMs) through
hot pressing. The water splitting electrodialysis (WSED) experiments
were conducted to produce acids and bases by using the resulting SPEEK/APSf
BPM. For comparative performance evaluation of the commercialized
ASTOM membrane and the newly synthesized membranes in our lab, the
acid/base production rate and the voltage changes according to the
constant current were measured. The acid and base formation rates
of the commercialized membrane from ASTOM were 2.3 and 2.7 g/L/h,
respectively, whereas the rates of the membranes we developed were
1.0–2.4 and 1.5–2.7 g/L/h, respectively, depending on
the amine contents in the AEM. The performance of the synthesized
BPM in our lab was equivalent or higher than that of the commercialized
membrane from the viewpoint of the acid/base production rates.