Composite Membranes Prepared from Cation Exchange Membranes and Polyaniline and Their Transport Properties in Electrodialysis

A cation exchange membrane was modified with polyaniline by polymerizing aniline with ammonium peroxodisulfate on the membrane surfaces, producing a membrane with polyaniline layers on both surfaces or a membrane with a single polyaniline layer on the surface. The modified membranes, composite membranes, showed sodium ion permselectivity in electrodialysis compared with divalent cations at an optimum polymerization time. The electronic conductivity of dry membranes showed a maximum at the same polymerization time as the time to attain a maximum value of the sodium ion permselectivity. Because emeraldine‐based polyaniline is conductive and has a cationic charge, the sodium ion permselectivity is based on the difference in the electrostatic repulsion forces of the cationic charge on the membrane surface of a desalting side to divalent cations and sodium ions. In fact, the selective permeation of sodium ions appeared only when the layer faced the desalting side of the membrane, and was affected by dissociation of polyaniline. Further oxidized polyaniline, pemigraniline‐based polyaniline, did not affect the permselectivity between cations, and the diffusion coefficient of neutral molecules, urea, increased with increasing polymerization time. Sodium ion permselectivity was maintained with repeated electrodialysis. © 1999 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.