PREPARATION OF PORE-FILLING MEMBRANES COATED WITH PEI–CATECHOL FOR REVERSE ELECTRODIALYSIS

Abstract

We fabricated anion exchange membranes (AEMs) with a pore-filling structure and introduced a binding between the catechol and amine groups to form new quaternary ammonium groups. In the case of polyethyleneimine (PEI) treatment, E2C1-PEI membrane exhibited a lower area resistance (0.683 Ω·cm2) and higher ion exchange capacity (1.38 meq.·g-1), compared with the E2C1 membrane. Moreover, in the case of E4C1-PEI membrane, the theoretical power density was the highest among all the samples owing to its low resistance and high transport number. Therefore, we suggested an alternative process for quaternary amination and proposed the potential application of AEMs in RED systems.