title: Transport properties of highly ordered heterogeneous ion-exchange membranes.
abstract: Model "ordered" heterogeneous ion exchange membranes are made with ion exchange particles heaving ion exchange capacity in the range 3 to 2.5 meq/gr (dry basis) and diameters ranging from 37 to 7 microm and 2 component room-temperature vulcanizing silicon rubber as a polymeric matrix, by applying an electric field normal to the membrane surface during preparation. These membranes were shown to have an improved ionic conductivity compared with "nonordered" membranes based on the same ion exchange content (for instance, at 10% resin content "nonordered" membranes show <10(-5) mS/cm while "ordered" membranes have conductivity of 1 mS/cm). The transport properties of ordered membranes were compared with those of nonordered membranes, through the current-voltage characteristics. Limiting currents measured for the ordered membranes were significantly higher than those of the nonordered membranes with the same resin concentration. In addition, higher limiting currents were observed in ordered membranes as the resin particles became smaller. Energy dispersion spectrometry analyses revealed that the concentration of cation exchange groups on the membrane surface was higher for ordered membrane as compared to that of nonordered membranes. This implies that the local current density for the conducting domains at the surface of the nonordered membranes is higher, leading to higher concentration polarization and, eventually, to lower average limiting current densities. The effect of ordering the particles on the membrane conductivity and transport properties was studied, and the advantages of the ordered membranes are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department for Desalination and Water Treatment, Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research, Unit of Environmental Engineering, Ben-Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Shapiro
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Freger
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Linder
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Oren