Nanofiber Based Organic Solvent Anion Exchange Membranes for Selective Separation of Monovalent anions

Present anion exchange membranes are generally constructed by simple and positively charged polymers with insufficient organic solvent resistance, and exhibit a low selectivity in the separation of anions. Here, dissolving poly(paraphenylene terephthalamide) nanofibers into small nanofibers and performing a reaction with quaternary ammonium groups in the one-dimensional small nanofibers, high-performance anion exchange membranes were successfully fabricated. By increasing the 2,3-epoxypropyl trimethyl ammonium chloride content, the synthesized amide nanofiber quaternary ammonium membranes (ANF#QA) exhibited a higher anion exchange capacity (as high as 1.75 mmol•g-1) and achieved a high electrochemical performance. In electrodialysis, the ANF#QA-10 membrane showed an exceptional Cl- selectivity in dilute and concentrated cells. Due to the dense structure and presence of carboxyl groups on the nanofibers, the ANF#QA membranes exhibited a selective separation of monovalent anions. After 48 hours of immersion...