Preparation of Sandwich Bipolar Membrane and its Photocatalytic Properties

Abstract

The mCMC/TiO2-Oxine/mCS bipolar membrane (BPM) was prepared by carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) as an anodic layer and chitosan (CS) as a cathodic layer modified by Cr3+and glutaraldehyde as linking reagents, respectively. The Nano-TiO2modified with the photosensitizer oxine was taken as a photocatalytic interlayer to enhance the water splitting in the interlayer of the BPM. The mCMC/TiO2-Oxine/mCS BPM shows a sandwich composition, and exhibited an excellent hydrophilic performance, lower impedance and working voltage. When the working current density is as high as 120 mA • cm-2, the working voltage is as low as 5.0 V with UV irradiation.