Production of lactobionic acid by BMED process using porous P84 co-polyimide anion exchange membranes

P84 co-polyimide anion exchange membranes with different porous structures are prepared via phase inversion, amination, and quaternization procedures. The porous P84 membranes has lower area resistances (0.7-2.2 Ω cm2) and the IEC values are in the range of 0.6-0.9 mmol/g. The membranes are utilized in bipolar membrane electrodialysis (BMED) process to produce lactobionic acid (LBA) and NaOH from sodium lactobionic. Compared with commonly dense ion exchange membranes, the membranes with porous structures may facilitate the migration of the substance by reducing the physical steric hindrance. Therefore the migration resistance of acid radical ions can be significantly decreased, and a higher output of acid and alkali are achieved with lower energy consumption, which is significant for the industrial application of BMED process.