Forum for Science, Industry and Business

New generation of advanced membranes

The development of a new generation of membranes based on conducting polymers has been the subject of a recent line of research in the Department of New Materials at CIDETEC, in association with the LEIA Technological Centre.

This involves a field of work wherein the excellent advantages presented by electro-dialysis conventional membranes (continuous separation, low energy consumption, ease of combination with other separation processes, absence of additives) are combined with other, highly promising, properties shown by conducting polymer membranes, with special reference to the possibility of manipulation of the pore size by means of the application of potential differences. These developments target the increasingly specific demands from industrial sectors: surface coating/treatment sector (automobile, printing, locksmiths, machine-tools, etc.), chemicals, agricultural feeds, pharmaceuticals and textiles, etc.

The interest provoked by conducting polymers for their application in membrane technologies is explained when we look at the fundamental specification which an ion interchange membrane has to have: great selectivity, low electric resistance to minimise specific energy consumption and low electro-osmotic flow in order to obtain the maximum possible concentration of salts in the concentration compartment.

Soledad Larrocha Redondo | Basque research
Further information:
http://www.cidetec.es

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