• Membrane Journal
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.154-162
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• 2024

Anion exchange membranes (AEMs) are essential components in water electrolysis systems, serving to physically separate the generated hydrogen and oxygen gases while enabling the selective transport of hydroxide ions between electrodes. Key characteristics sought in AEMs include high ion conductivity and robust chemical and mechanical stability in alkaline. In this study, quaternized Poly(terphenyl piperidinium)/cellulose nanocrystals (qPTP/CNC) mixed matrix membrane was fabricated. The polymer matrix, PTP, was synthesized via super-acid polymerization, known for its excellent ion conductivity and alkaline durability. The qPTP/CNC membrane showed a dense and uniform morphology without significant voids or large aggregates at the polymer-nanoparticle interface. The qPTP/CNC membrane containing 2 wt% CNC demonstrated a high ion exchange capacity of 1.90 mmol/g, coupled with low water uptake (9.09%) and swelling ratio (5.56%). Additionally, the qPTP/CNC membrane showed significantly lower resistance and superior alkaline stability (384 hours at 50℃ in 1 M KOH) compared to the commercial FAA-3-50 membrane. These results highlight the potential of hydrophilic additive CNC in enhancing ion conductivity and alkaline durability of ion exchange membranes.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.513-521
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• 2009

The primary goal of this research was to develop an optimized analytical procedure for soil analysis based on ion-selective microelectrodes for agricultural purposes, which can perform on-site measurement of various ions in soil easily and rapidly. For the simple and rapid on-site diagnosis, an analysis of soil chemicals was performed employing a multicomponent-in-situ-extractant and an evaluation of ionselective microelectrodes were conducted through the regressive correlation method with a standard analytical approach widely employed in this area. Examination of sensor responses between various soil nutrient extractants revealed that 0.01M HCl and 1M LiCl provided the most ideal Nernstian response. However, 1M LiCl deteriorated the selective response for analytes due to high concentration (1M) of lithium cation. Thus, employing either 0.1M HCl as an extractant followed by 10 times dilution, or 0.01M HCl as an extractant without further dilution was chosen as the optimal extractant composition. A study of regressive correlation between results from ion-selective microelectrodes and those from the standard analytical procedure showed that analyses of $K^+$, $Na^+$, $Ca^{2+}$, and $NO_3{^-}$ showed the excellent consistency between two methods. However, the response for $NH_4{^+}$ suffered the severe interference from $K^+$. In addition, the selectivity for $Mg^{2+}$ over $Ca^{2+}$ was not sufficient enough since available ionophores developed so far do not provide such a high selectivity for $Mg^{2+}$. Therefore, as an agricultural on-site diagnostic instrument, the device in development requires further research on $NH_4{^+}$ analysis in the soil sample, development of $Mg^{2+}$-selective ionophore, and more detailed study focused on potassium, one of the most important plant nutrients.