Issue 17, 2018

A multiscale-pore ion exchange membrane for better energy efficiency

Abstract

Ion exchange membranes (IEMs) have been adopted in various environmental, chemical, and energy applications. However, the formation of ion-depletion regions, caused by concentration polarization near IEMs, often leads to significant energy and efficiency loss. While much research has been devoted to solving this challenge, complete removal of ion-depletion regions is still difficult, especially when the membrane systems are operating under near- or over-limiting conditions. This paper proposes a novel multiscale-pore (MP) IEM to reduce the effect of the ion-depletion region, by allowing a fluid flow through the MP-IEM, thereby limiting the size (and the resulting resistance) of the ion-depletion region. The electrical resistance and energy consumption in MP and conventional IEM-embedded electrochemical systems were investigated, and their performance during water desalination processes were compared. The current–voltage response suggests a secondary ohmic regime attributed to an internal flow rate through the MP-IEM. Moreover, the electrochemical desalination of seawater with MP-IEMs demonstrated up to 75% reduction of energy consumption, compared with conventional IEMs under comparable operating conditions.

Graphical abstract: A multiscale-pore ion exchange membrane for better energy efficiency

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
01 Dec 2017
Accepted
22 Mar 2018
First published
22 Mar 2018
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2018,6, 7714-7723

A multiscale-pore ion exchange membrane for better energy efficiency

H. J. Kwon, B. Kim, G. Lim and J. Han, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2018, 6, 7714 DOI: 10.1039/C7TA10570C

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications, without requesting further permission from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given and it is not used for commercial purposes.

To request permission to reproduce material from this article in a commercial publication, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party commercial publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements