Surface
modification has been proven to be an effective approach for ion exchange
membranes to achieve separation of counterions with different valences
by altering interfacial construction of membranes to improve ion transfer
performance. In this work, we have fabricated a series of novel cation
exchange membranes (CEMs) by modifying sulfonated polysulfone (SPSF)
membranes via codeposition of mussel-inspired dopamine (DA) and 4′-aminobenzo-15-crown-5
(ACE), followed by glutaraldehyde cross-linking, aiming at achieving
selective separation of specific cations. The as-prepared membranes
before and after modification were systematically characterized in
terms of their structural, physicochemical, electrochemical, and electrodialytic
properties. In the electrodialysis process, the modified membranes
exhibit distinct perm selectivity to K+ ions in binary
(K+/Li+, K+/Na+, K+/Mg2+) and ternary (K+/Li+/Mg2+) systems. In particular, at a constant current density
of 5.0 mA·cm–2, modified membrane M-co-0.50
shows significantly prominent perm selectivity
in the
K+/Mg2+ system and M-co-0.75 exhibits remarkable
performance in the K+/Li+ system
, superior to commercial
monovalent-selective CEM (CIMS,
,
). Besides, in the
K+/Li+/Mg2+ ternary system, K+ flux reaches 30.8 nmol·cm–2·s–1 for M-co-0.50, while it reaches 25.8 nmol·cm–2·s–1 for CIMS. It possibly
arises from the effects of pore-size sieving and the synergistic action
of electric field driving and host–guest molecular recognition
of ACE and K+ ions. This study can provide new insights
into the separation of specific alkali metal ions, especially on reducing
influence of coexisting cations K+ and Na+ on
Li+ ion recovery from salt lake and seawater.