Abstract
Bipolar membranes consist of a layered structure involving a cation selective membrane joined to an anion selective membrane. This is of practical interest in terms of a new process for the commercial production of acids and bases. This study examines why water splitting is reduced in bipolar membranes. It has been suggested that water splitting occurrs due to the second Wien effect in the intermediate region, because the potential drop is very large. If amines exist in the intermediate region, water splitting is accelerated because protonation and deprotonation reactions occur between H2O and the amines. If space between the cation and anion exchange layers is produced, the water splitting effect is reduced. It was proved that if the anion exchange layer was composed of only binary or ternay amino groups, the water splitting effect was also reduced due to the low anion selectivity.
