Abstract
Novel ion–exchange membrane has been developed using non–woven fabric as the reinforcement, to prepare cost effective membrane not only for the traditional electrodialysis process but also for the new application like reverse electrodialysis (RED) or membrane capacitive deionization (MCDI), where the cost of the membrane is quite important. For the preparation of non–woven fabric membrane, new procedure has been adopted, where ion–exchangeable polymer solutions were coated on the non–woven fabric. Non–woven fabric membranes prepared have the lower membrane resistance compared to those of conventional ion–exchange membranes, keeping its transport number almost same level. With applying these new membranes, electrodialysis and reverse electrodialysis performances were investigated.
