• Membrane Journal
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.21-29
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• 2020

In this study, we have established the optimum design condition of pore-filled anion-exchange membrane for all-vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB). From the experimental results, it was proven that the membrane design factors that have the greatest influence on the charge-discharge performance of VRFB are the ion exchange capacity, the porosity of substrate film, and the crosslinking degree. That is, the ohmic loss and the crossover of active materials in VRFB were shown to be determined by the above factors. In addition, two methods, i.e. reducing the ion exchange capacity at low crosslinking degree and increasing the crosslinking degree at high ion exchange capacity, were investigated in the preparation of pore-filled anion-exchange membranes. As a result, it was found that optimizing the crosslinking degree at sufficiently high ion exchange capacity is more desirable to achieving high VRFB charge-discharge performances.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.204-210
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• 2013

Thin pore-filled cation and anion-exchange membranes (PFCEM and PFAEMs, $t_m=25-30{\mu}m$) were prepared using a porous polymeric substrate for efficient all-vanadium redox flow battery (VRB). The electrochemical and charge-discharge performances of the membranes have been systematically investigated and compared with those of commercially available ion-exchange membranes. The pore-filled membranes were shown to have higher permselectivity as well as lower electrical resistances than those of the commercial membranes. In addition, the VRBs employing the pore-filled membranes exhibited the respectable charge-discharge performances, showing the energy efficiencies (EE) of 82.4% and 84.9% for the PFCEM and PFAEM, respectively (cf. EE = 87.2% for Nafion 1135). The results demonstrated that the pore-filled ion-exchange membranes could be successfully used in VRBs as an efficient separator by replacing expensive Nafion membrane.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.515-523
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• 2015

While commercial polystyrene-based ion exchange membranes have simple manufacturing processes, they also possess poor durability due to their brittleness. Poly(ethylene glycol)methyl ether methacrylate with hydrophilic side chains of poly(ethylene glycol) was used as a co-monomer to make the membranes have improved flexibility. Hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity of the anion exchange membranes were able to be adjusted by varying the chain lengths of the poly(ethylene glycol). For the preparation of the anion exchange membranes, a porous PE substrate was immersed into monomer solutions and thermally polymerized. The prepared membranes were subsequently reacted with trimethylamine to produce anion exchange functional groups, Quaternary ammonium salts. The prepared pore-filled anion exchange membranes were evaluated in terms of ion exchange capacity, electric resistance, elongation at break and water uptake.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.336-347
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• 2022

Reverse electrodialysis (RED) is one of the promising eco-friendly renewable energy technologies which can generate electricity from the concentration difference between seawater and freshwater by using ion-exchange membranes as a diaphragm. The ion-exchange membrane is a key component that determines the performance of RED, and must satisfy requirements such as low electrical resistance, high permselectivity, excellent durability, and low manufacturing cost. In this study, pore-filled anion-exchange membranes were fabricated using porous polymer substrates having various thicknesses and porosity, and the effects of ion-exchange polymer composition and membrane thickness on the power generation performance of RED were investigated. When the electrical resistance of the ion-exchange membrane is sufficiently low, it can be confirmed that the RED power generation performance is mainly influenced by the apparent permselectivity of the membrane. In addition, it was confirmed that the apparent permselectivity of the membranes can be improved through IEC, crosslinking degree, membrane thickness, surface modification, etc., and the optimum condition must be found in consideration of the trade-off relationship with electrical resistance.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.109-115
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• 2001

Pore-filled ion-exchange membranes in which polypropylene(PP) microporous membrane was used as a nascent membrane were prepared by an in-situ cross-linking technique. Poly(vinylbenzyl chloride)(PVBCI) reacted with piperazine(PIP) or 1,4-diaminobicyclo[2,2,2]octane(DABCO) in a di-methylforamide(DMF) solution was filled in the pores of the microporous base membrane. After gellation the remaining chloromethyl groups were, then reacted with an amine such as trimethylamine to form positively charged, ammonium site. This will produce the pore-filled anion-exchange membrane. It was shown that this simple 2 step procedure gave dimensionally stable, pore-filled membranes in which the MG of polymer gel and degree of cross-linking could be easily controlled by the concentration of PVBCI and cross-linker in the starting DMF solution. Specially, high water permeability (7.8 kg/$m^2$hr, host membrane: PP3, MG: 73%, degree of cross-linking: 10%, crosslinker: PIP) at ultra low pressure(100 kPa) indicates the produced pore-filled membranes is usable as a water softening membrane.

• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
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• 2004.05a
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• pp.207-210
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• 2004

The pore-filled anion-exchange membranes were prepared in this study with an asymmetric poly(vinylidene fluoride)(PVDF) membrane as a nascent membrane and poly(vinylbenzyl chloride)(PVBCl) as a polyelectrolyte. The solution of PVBCI having the chloromethylate aryl ring of 80 percents and 1,4-diaminobicyclo [2,2,2]octane(DABCO) was made with the solvent of tetrahydrofuran(THF) and N,N-Dimethylformamide(DMF), which is in the rotio of 8:2. A new preparation method in this study, i.e. in-situ crosslinking, enabled us to produce the pore-filled membranes without change of size, and to control the properties of final membrane with various degree of cross-linking. From the result of surface morphologies of SEM and AFM the polyelectrolyte exists in the pores of nascent membrane as a certain configuration. From the investigation of the solvent affecting much to the permeability and rejection, it was found. that the membranes using DMF and THF showed better performances than the membranes produced by THF only. The water permeability of the final membrane at low pressure(100㎪) showed a typical ultrafiltation membrane's permeability (8-10kg/㎡hr) and good values of rejection(55∼60 percent).

• Membrane Journal
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.58-69
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• 2024

Reverse electrodialysis (RED) is an electro-membrane process employing ion-exchange membranes (IEMs) that can harvest electric energy from the concentration difference between seawater and river water. Multivalent ions contained in seawater and river water bind strongly to the fixed charge groups of the IEM, causing high resistance and reducing open-circuit voltage and power density through uphill transport. In this study, a pore-filled anion-exchange membrane (PFAEM) with excellent monovalent ion selectivity and electrochemical properties was fabricated and characterized for RED application. The monovalent ion selectivity of the prepared membrane was 3.65, which was superior to a commercial membrane (ASE, Astom Corp.) with a selectivity of 1.27 under the same conditions. Additionally, the prepared membrane showed excellent electrochemical properties, including low electrical resistance compared to ASE. As a result of evaluating RED performance under seawater of 0.459 M NaCl/0.0510 M Na₂SO₄ and river water of 0.0153 M NaCl/0.0017 M Na₂SO₄, the maximum power density of 1.80 W/m² was obtained by applying the prepared membrane, which is a 40.6% improved output performance compared to the ASE membrane.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.108-116
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• 2004

In this study, the pore-filled ion-exchange membranes were prepared by using the asymmetric PVDF membrane as a nascent membrane. First, the solution of PVBCI having the chlorornethylate aryl ring of 80 percents and DABCO was made with the mixed solvent of THF and DU (8:2). These mixed solution was then, filled in the pores of PVDF membrane, and left for a day to complete the gelation. Finally the pore-filled anion-exchange membrane is obtained fallowed by the amination of the remaining chloromethyl groups with trimethylamine (TMA, 40 wt% in water) forming the positive ammonium ion sites. This 2 step procedure enabled us to produce the pore-filled membranes without change of size, and to control the properties of final membrane with various degree of cross-linking. The results of SEM and AFM showed the polyelectrolyte existed in the pores of nascent membrane as a certain configuration. From the investigation of the solvent affecting much to the permeability and rejection, it was found that the membranes using mixed solvent of THE and DMF (8:2) showed better performances than the membranes produced by THF only. The result of an investigation for the water permeability of the final membrane at low pressure (100 Kpa) showed a typical ultrafiltration membrane's permeability (8 ∼ 10 kg/$m^2$hr) and good values of rejection (55∼60 percent).

• Membrane Journal
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.77-86
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• 2023

In this study, pore-filled ion exchange membranes with low membrane resistance and high hydroxide ion conductivity was developed. To improve alkali durability, a porous substrate made of polytetrafluoroethylene was used, and a copolymer was prepared using monomers 2-(dimethyl amino) ethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA) and vinyl benzyl chloride (VBC) for pores. divinyl benzene (DVB) was used as the cross-linker, and ion exchange membranes were prepared for each cross-linking agent content to study the effect of the cross-linker content on DMAEMA-DVB and VBC-DMAEMA-DVB copolymers. As a result, chemical stability is improved by using a PTFE material substrate, and productivity can be increased by enabling fast photo polymerization at a low temperature by using a low-pressure UV lamp. To confirm the physical and chemical stability of the ion exchange membrane required for an anion exchange membrane fuel cell, tensile strength, and alkali resistance tests were conducted. As a result, as the cross-linking degree increased, the tensile strength increased by approximately 40 MPa, and finally, through the silver conductivity and alkali resistance tests, it was confirmed that the alkaline stability increased as the cross-linking agent increased.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.441-448
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• 2017

In this study, the effects of membrane characteristics on the power generation performance in reverse electrodialysis (RED) have been investigated with pore-filled ion-exchange membranes (PFIEMs) prepared by employing a porous polyethylene substrate and the mixtures of three cross-linking agents. As a result, it was confirmed through the correlation analyses that the cross-linking degree and free volume of the PFIEMs were effectively controlled by mixing the cross-linking agents having different molecular sizes, influencing complexly the electrochemical characteristics of the membranes and the power generation performance in RED. In particular, the pore-filled cation-exchange membranes at the optimum cross-linking conditions exhibited the power generation performance superior to that of the commercial membranes and the pore-filled anion-exchange membranes also showed the excellent performance close to that of the commercial membrane.