Sodium Salt-Splitting Performance of a Novel Ceramic-Polymer Composite Cation-Selective Membrane

Abstract

The salt splitting performance of an electrolysis cell incorporating a novel composite membrane consisting of a thin film of an amorphous ceramic with NASICON composition false(Na1+xZr2SixP3−xO12,0⩽x⩽3false) deposited on commercial cation-selective polymeric membranes was evaluated. We have investigated how the ceramic film thickness and the technique of deposition affected the base current efficiency (BCE) for the production of sodium hydroxide from sodium sulfate. It was found that when full coverage of the polymeric substrate was achieved, the ceramic film improved the salt-splitting performance of the polymeric membrane, even when localized surface defects were present. The study showed that the BCE of the electrolysis cell was the same whether the cation-selective composite membrane used was formed by pulsed laser deposition or by sputtering. Operating the cell above room temperature, and at a high anolyte concentration increased the base current efficiency for sodium hydroxide production. © 2001 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.

Structural-electrical-optical properties relationship of sodium superionic conductor sputter-deposited coatings

“…Moreover this compound presents high chemical durability versus molten sodium and sulphur [1]. Hence, this material can be used as electrolyte for application in the field of gas sensors, ion selective membranes or Na-S batteries [1][2][3]. The interest in thin films increases due to the possibility of miniaturization and of a possible reduction of the electrolyte resistance.…”