Profiled ion exchange membranes: A comprehensible review

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

77 Citations (Scopus)
82 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Profiled membranes (also known as corrugated membranes, micro-structured membranes, patterned membranes, membranes with designed topography or notched membranes) are gaining increasing academic and industrial attention and recognition as a viable alternative to flat membranes. So far, profiled ion exchange membranes have shown to significantly improve the performance of reverse electrodialysis (RED), and particularly, electrodialysis (ED) by eliminating the spacer shadow effect and by inducing hydrodynamic changes, leading to ion transport rate enhancement. The beneficial effects of profiled ion exchange membranes are strongly dependent on the shape of their profiles (corrugations/patterns) as well as on the flow rate and salts’ concentration in the feed streams. The enormous degree of freedom to create new profile geometries offers an exciting opportunity to improve even more their performance. Additionally, the advent of new manufacturing methods in the membrane field, such as 3D printing, is anticipated to allow a faster and an easier way to create profiled membranes with different and complex geometries.

Original languageEnglish
Article number165
JournalInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences
Volume20
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2019

Keywords

  • 3D printing
  • Corrugated membranes
  • Electrodialysis
  • Hydrodynamic
  • Ion exchange membranes
  • Mass transfer
  • Membrane capacitive deionization
  • Profiled membranes
  • Reverse electrodialysis
  • Thermal pressing

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Profiled ion exchange membranes: A comprehensible review'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this