Chronopotentiometric study of the transport of phosphoric acid anions through an anion-exchange membrane under different pH values

Abstract

[EN] Phosphate is the main cause of eutrophication in many water bodies. Its presence in waters is associated to the fact that is not completely removed in conventional wastewater treatment plants. On the other side, phosphate rocks are a non-renewable resource and considered as a critical raw material. A membrane separation process, able to recover phosphate from wastewater, is a promising process to avoid pollution and to reuse phosphate. This paper investigates the transport of salts of phosphoric acid through an anion-exchange membrane (AEM) by means of chronopotentiograms and polarization curves (CVCs). The presence of multiple transition times in the chronopotentiograms and the corresponding limiting current densities in the CVCs indicate a change in the species being transported in the membrane/diffusion boundary layer system, due to the hydrolysis reactions that take place when the concentration polarization is reached. Under the experimental conditions tested, coupled convection (gravitational and elctroconvection) occurs when a certain threshold in the membrane voltage drop is surpassed independently of the electrolyte concentration. However, at high pH values, only one transition time in the chronopotentiograms, due to the transfer of OH- ions with greater concentration and mobility. This fact is reflected in the CVCs by the large plateaus obtained, which hinders the occurrence of coupled convection phenomena, and consequently, water splitting can be considered as the main mechanism responsible for the overlimiting regime.