Exfoliated MoS2 nanosheets loaded on bipolar exchange membranes interfaces as advanced catalysts for water dissociation.

Over the last few decades, ion exchange membranes have evolved from a laboratory tool to industrial products with significant technical and commercial impacts. Electrodialysis with bipolar membranes (EDBM) is a technology that can produce acids and bases from the corresponding salt solutions. Bipolar membranes are key factors for splitting water at the interface of a cation and anion exchange layer in an electric field. The ideal bipolar membrane should have a low energy consumption, a high current efficiency and long-term stability. In order to investigate the catalytic effect of a monolayer of MoS 2 , the bipolar membranes were prepared by introducing monolayer MoS 2 to the interface of bipolar membranes. The resulting bipolar membrane was found to have lower potential drop, which clearly demonstrates the applicability of the MoS 2 layer to act as catalyst. Enhanced acid production confirmed this prediction. Furthermore, a bipolar membrane prepared at 90 °C had a low swelling ratio of about 7.5% while maintaining a high water uptake of 71.6%. From the calculation of current efficiency and energy consumption, the bipolar membrane with a monolayer of MoS 2 has a higher current efficiency (45%) and a lower energy consumption (3.6 kW/h·kg) compared to a current efficiency of 24% and an energy consumption of 6.3 kW/h·kg for a bipolar membrane without MoS 2 . This study proves the catalytic function of MoS 2 , which lays a foundation for further research on catalytic bipolar exchange membranes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]