Ionic covalent organic nanosheet (iCON)–quaternized polybenzimidazole nanocomposite anion-exchange membranes to enhance the performance of membrane capacitive deionization

Tools

McNair, R, Kumar, S, Wonanke, ADD, Addicoat, MA ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5406-7927, Dryfe, RAW and Szekely, G, 2022. Ionic covalent organic nanosheet (iCON)–quaternized polybenzimidazole nanocomposite anion-exchange membranes to enhance the performance of membrane capacitive deionization. Desalination, 533: 115777. ISSN 0011-9164

Preview

Text
1553431_Addicoat.pdf - Post-print
Download (1MB) | Preview

Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2022.115777

Abstract

Membrane capacitive deionization (MCDI) is a promising technique to achieve desalination of low-salinity water resources. The primary requirements for developing and designing materials for MCDI applications are large surface area, high wettability to water, high conductivity, and efficient ion-transport pathways. Herein, we synthesized ionic covalent organic nanosheets (iCONs) containing guanidinium units that carry a positive charge. A series of quaternized polybenzimidazole (QPBI)/iCON (iCON@QPBI) nanocomposite membranes was fabricated using solution casting. The surface, thermal, wettability, and electrochemical properties of the iCON@QPBI nanocomposite membranes were evaluated. The iCON@QPBI anion-exchange membranes achieved a salt adsorption capacity as high as 15.6 mg g−1 and charge efficiency of up to 90%, which are 50% and 20% higher than those of the pristine QPBI membrane, respectively. The performance improvement was attributed to the increased ion-exchange capacity (2.4 mmol g−1), reduced area resistance (5.4 Ω cm2), and enhanced hydrophilicity (water uptake = 32%) of the iCON@QPBI nanocomposite membranes. This was due to the additional quaternary ammonium groups and conductive ion transport networks donated by the iCON materials. The excellent desalination performance of the iCON@polymer nanocomposite membranes demonstrated their potential for use in MCDI applications and alternative electromembrane processes.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Desalination
Creators:	McNair, R., Kumar, S., Wonanke, A.D.D., Addicoat, M.A., Dryfe, R.A.W. and Szekely, G.
Publisher:	Elsevier
Date:	1 July 2022
Volume:	533
ISSN:	0011-9164
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1016/j.desal.2022.115777 DOI S0011916422002326 Publisher Item Identifier 1553431 Other
Divisions:	Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by:	Jonathan Gallacher
Date Added:	17 Jun 2022 08:16
Last Modified:	19 Apr 2023 03:00
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/46462