Preparation of water-based anion-exchange membrane from PVA for anti-fouling in the electrodialysis process

Anion exchange membrane (AEMs) fouling is a serious problem influencing membrane performance during electrodialysis process(ED), which would increase power consumption and reduce water recovery. In this paper, an aliphatic anion-exchange membrane was prepared from quaternized polyvinyl alcohol (QPVA) via dual cross-linking through annealing treatment and condensation reaction to restrain the membrane water swelling. The Wu% of QPVA membrane could be reduced to 22.87 ± 0.81%. Due to the hydrophilia (59.86 ± 0.21°), negative ζ-potential surface and aliphatic matrix of QPVA, no transition time appeared under our experiment condition, indicating the QPVA membrane was scarcely fouled by SDBS . And the existence of SDBS in dilute solution generated slightly effect on the QPVA membrane resistance and only 7.47 ± 0.21% reduction of the desalination rate in ED process. Furthermore, only distilled water was used as solution or reaction media, without any harmful organic solvents , presenting an environmentally friendly route for the preparation of water-based anion-exchange membrane. So, the excellent anti-fouling performance along with green preparation of QPVA showed its remarkable prospect for desalination purpose in ED process.