Adaptive Membrane Systems Based on Conductive Electroactive Polymers

Abstract

The development of membrane systems that are adaptive-whose physical and/or chemical properties can be manipulated after synthesis—expands the applicability of membrane technology. In this work, we have employed both polyaniline and polypyrrole based membranes to demonstrate how transport of ionic species can be regulated using external electrical stimuli. In the case of polyaniline membranes, the transport of various acids has been studied and with polypyrrole, transport of simple cations such as potassium and sodium with chloride as counterions has been in vestigated.