(346a) Diffusion of Ions in Charged and Uncharged Polymers (Invited Talk)

Charged polymer membranes are widely used for water purification applications involving control of water and ion transport, such as reverse osmosis and electrodialysis. Efforts are also underway worldwide to harness separation properties of such materials for energy generation in related applications such as reverse electrodialysis and pressure retarded osmosis. Additional applications, such as energy recovery ventilation and membrane-assisted capacitive deionization, rely on polymer membranes to control transport rates of water, ions, or both. Improving membranes for such processes would benefit from more complete fundamental understanding of the relation between membrane structure and ion sorption, diffusion and transport properties in both cation and anion exchange membrane materials. Ion-exchange membranes often contain strongly acidic or basic functional groups that render the materials hydrophilic, but the presence of such charged groups also has a substantial impact on ion (and water) transport properties through the polymer.

We are exploring the influence of polymer backbone structure, charge density, and water content on ion diffusion properties. Results from some of these studies will be presented, focusing on diffusion of salt, primarily NaCl, through various neutral, positively charged and negatively charged membranes via concentration gradient driven transport (i.e., ion permeability) and electric field driven transport (i.e., ionic conductivity). One long-term goal is to develop and validate a common framework to interpret data from both electrically driven and concentration gradient driven mass transport in such polymers and to use it to establish structure/property relations leading to rational design of membranes with improved performance.