Enabling Bipolar Membrane Manufacturing Using Microscopy
- National Laboratory of the Rockies, Golden, CO (United States)
Bipolar membranes (BPMs) used for water treatment suffer from interface instabilities, causing premature failure and decreased performance. Recent research has highlighted the impacts of membrane morphology on mechanical behavior and performance. Improved material performance of thin film membranes requires enhanced transport properties coupled with better control of the mechanical characteristics to avoid premature failure of the film. Thus, morphology is a key parameter when developing and evaluating novel membrane materials. Microscopy offers unique advantages for nano-scale characterization of thin film membrane interfaces and morphologies. In this study, the interface junction of BPMs was evaluated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). BPMs were fabricated using (1) hot pressing lamination, (2) bench-scale solution casting, and (3) roll-to-roll sequential casting (R2R). Both commercial and in-house fabricated ion exchange membranes were used in the BPMs. The BPMs were comprised of a cation exchange membrane and an anion exchange membrane with a catalyst layer sandwiched in between. Cross sectional SEM and EDX images of the membrane interface junction were compared among the different fabrication techniques and materials. The bench cast catalyst layers were nonuniform compared to the R2R and hot pressed membranes, demonstrating the importance of precise catalyst application conditions. Different thicknesses of the BPMs and individual membrane layers revealed that polymer solution concentration needs to be optimized during manufacturing. This work shows that microscopy can identify key processing parameters that affect BPM interface junction quality at the microscale to enable manufacturing of high performance BPMs.
- Research Organization:
- National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR), Golden, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- National Alliance for Water Innovation (NAWI); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Energy Efficiency Office. Industrial Efficiency & Decarbonization Office (IEDO)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC36-08GO28308
- OSTI ID:
- 3014909
- Report Number(s):
- NLR/PR-5900-94750
- Resource Type:
- Conference presentation
- Conference Information:
- Presented at the North American Membrane Society (NAMS), 17-21 May 2025, Nashville, Tennessee
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Enabling Roll-to-Roll Manufacturing of Bipolar Membranes Using Microscopy
Visualization, understanding, and mitigation of process-induced-membrane irregularities in gas diffusion electrode-based polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells
Influence of Coating Method on the Performance of Roll-to-Roll Coated PEM Fuel Cell Catalyst Layers
Conference
·
Sun Jan 04 19:00:00 EST 2026
·
OSTI ID:3014910
Visualization, understanding, and mitigation of process-induced-membrane irregularities in gas diffusion electrode-based polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells
Journal Article
·
Thu Feb 18 19:00:00 EST 2021
· International Journal of Hydrogen Energy
·
OSTI ID:1769844
Influence of Coating Method on the Performance of Roll-to-Roll Coated PEM Fuel Cell Catalyst Layers
Conference
·
Mon Sep 28 00:00:00 EDT 2020
·
OSTI ID:1670153