Polymer electrolyte membranes prepared by radiation grafting method for electrodialysis systems

Chen, J.; Asano, Masaharu; Maekawa, Yasunari

Electrodialysis is a green technology for separation of ionic species from aqueous solution and has been used in preparation of drinking water and treatment of waste water. Polymer electrolyte membranes are the most important components in the electrodialysis systems. In this study, we use the radiation grafting technology to preparate the cation and anion exchange membranes. It was found that the ion exchange capacity (IEC) increases with increasing degree of grafting, and the conductivity increases with increasing IEC. However, the conductivity for cation-type membranes is several times higher than for anion-type membranes at the same level of IEC. The cation and anion exchange membranes were tested using a simple electrodialysis cell, in which the maximum percent removal of the cesium ions can be closely reached to 100% using the prepared polymer electrolyte membranes with low IEC.