Aging and Degradation of Ion-Exchange Membranes

Recent years have seen the widespread use of ion-exchange membranes (IEM) in chemical, environmental and energy source, and new functional membrane materials have been continuously proposed. Nevertheless, there are yet few studies on the mechanism of the aging and degradation of IEM materials during long-term use, which severely limits the further application of ion-exchange membranes. This paper reviews the existing research on the aging and degradation of ion-exchange membranes in different cases and summarizes the following three major mechanisms, solute adsorption/penetration/fouling, membrane burning under overlimiting current region, and membrane degradation under different conditions. Finally, prevention and control measures such as antioxidant membrane and polarization inhibition are proposed.