An investigation on ion transfer resistance of cation exchange membrane/solution interface

The ion transfer resistance of an ion exchange membrane/solution interface was investigated qualitatively in many literatures, but no quantitative study was found. Since its significant applications in electrodialysis, ion transfer resistances of K+, Ba2+ and Al3+ across the cation exchange membrane/solution interface were investigated in this study by a newly developed approach. The results show that cation transfer resistances of the Nafion1135 or PE01 membrane/solution interface decrease with the increase of ion concentration, and increase with the rise of cationic valence. The result in this investigation is supported by the theoretical analysis, i.e., the effects of ions effective radii, static electric interactions between ions and polymer membrane surface charged groups, and the effects of solvents and direct interactions between ions.