TY - JOUR
T1 - Microbial desalination cell with sulfonated sodium poly(ether ether ketone) as cation exchange membranes for enhancing power generation and salt reduction
AU - Moruno, Francisco Lopez
AU - Rubio, Juan E.
AU - Atanassov, Plamen
AU - Cerrato, José M.
AU - Arges, Christopher G.
AU - Santoro, Carlo
PY - 2018/6
Y1 - 2018/6
N2 - Microbial desalination cell (MDC) is a bioelectrochemical system capable of oxidizing organics, generating elec- tricity, while reducing the salinity content of brine streams. As it is designed, anion and cation exchange mem- branes play an important role on the selective removal of ions from the desalination chamber. In this work, sulfonated sodium (Na+) poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) cation exchange membranes (CEM) were tested in combination with quaternary ammonium chloride poly(2,6-dimethyl 1,4-phenylene oxide) (QAPPO) anion ex- change membrane (AEM). Non-patterned and patterned (varying topographical features) CEMs were investi- gated and assessed in this work. The results were contrasted against a commercially available CEM. This work used real seawater from the Pacific Ocean in the desalination chamber. The results displayed a high desalination rate and power generation for all the membranes, with a maximum of 78.6 ± 2.0% in salinity reduction and 235 ± 7 mW m−2 in power generation for the MDCs with the SPEEK CEM. Desalination rate and power generation achieved are higher with synthesized SPEEK membranes when compared with an available commercial CEM. An optimized combination of these types of membranes substantially improves the performances of MDC, mak- ing the system more suitable for real applications.
AB - Microbial desalination cell (MDC) is a bioelectrochemical system capable of oxidizing organics, generating elec- tricity, while reducing the salinity content of brine streams. As it is designed, anion and cation exchange mem- branes play an important role on the selective removal of ions from the desalination chamber. In this work, sulfonated sodium (Na+) poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) cation exchange membranes (CEM) were tested in combination with quaternary ammonium chloride poly(2,6-dimethyl 1,4-phenylene oxide) (QAPPO) anion ex- change membrane (AEM). Non-patterned and patterned (varying topographical features) CEMs were investi- gated and assessed in this work. The results were contrasted against a commercially available CEM. This work used real seawater from the Pacific Ocean in the desalination chamber. The results displayed a high desalination rate and power generation for all the membranes, with a maximum of 78.6 ± 2.0% in salinity reduction and 235 ± 7 mW m−2 in power generation for the MDCs with the SPEEK CEM. Desalination rate and power generation achieved are higher with synthesized SPEEK membranes when compared with an available commercial CEM. An optimized combination of these types of membranes substantially improves the performances of MDC, mak- ing the system more suitable for real applications.
U2 - 10.1016/j.bioelechem.2018.02.004
DO - 10.1016/j.bioelechem.2018.02.004
M3 - Article
SN - 1567-5394
VL - 121
SP - 176
EP - 184
JO - Bioelectrochemistry
JF - Bioelectrochemistry
ER -