Water dissociation in bipolar membranes: Experiments and theory

Abstract

Experimental results are given for the net rate of water dissociation in a bipolar membrane formed from a single polyolephine sheet for reverse biases of up to 60 volts and temperatures in the range 10–60°C. It is deduced that the membrane possesses a thin (600–10,000A) neutral layer between the charged regions. The water dissociation occurs in one or both of the interior surfaces of the charged regions, adjacent to the neutral region, in very narrow regions, with width of the order of 10 A, where there is uncompensated fixed charge. In the reaction layer the rate constant for dissociation of water is about 107 times its free solution value.