Preparation and characterization of acrylic acid-treated bacterial cellulose cation-exchange membrane

✍ Scribed by Yong-Jin Choi; Yeonghee Ahn; Moon-Sung Kang; Hong-Ki Jun; In Soo Kim; Seung-Hyeon Moon

• Publisher: Wiley (John Wiley & Sons)
• Year: 2003
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 289 KB
• Volume: 79
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0268-2575
• DOI: 10.1002/jctb.942

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

The feasibility of using bacterial cellulose as a source for environmentally compatible ion‐exchange membranes (IEM) was studied. Bacterial cellulose was modified with cation‐exchangeable acrylic acid (AAc) by UV‐graft polymerization to prepare membranes having ion‐exchange capacity (IEC) and greater structural density. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra showed that acrylic acids were successfully bound to bacterial cellulose. Morphological changes of acrylic acid‐treated bacterial cellulose were examined through scanning electron microscopy. A dense structure of the membrane increased with increasing UV‐irradiation time. Acrylic‐modified bacterial cellulose membrane showed reasonable mechanical properties, such as tensile strength of 12 MPa and elongation of 6.0%. Also the prepared membranes were comparable to the commercial membrane CMX in terms of the electrochemical properties, ie IEC of 2.5 meq g^−1^‐dry mem, membrane electric resistance of 3 ohm cm^2^, and transport number of 0.89. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry