Electrochemical analysis of ion-exchange membranes with respect to a possible use in electrodialytic decontamination of soil polluted with heavy metals

Transport numbers in different metal chloride solutions were estimated using the emf method for two ion-exchange membranes: Ionics CR67 HMR412 (cation-exchange membrane) and Ionics AR204 SXRA 7639 (anion-exchange membrane). The cation-exchange membrane was found to work nearly ideally for NaCl and CaCl2 solutions even at high concentrations, whereas deviation from ideality was seen for ZnCl2 and CuCl2 solutions.

The anion-exchange membrane showed transport numbers for the anion around 0.95 for NaCl, CaCl2 and ZnCl2 solutions for the concentration range investigated. Electrodialytic desalting experiments taken as a simplified simulation of the electrokinetic decontamination method showed that it was possible to remove all ions in the simulated soil volume, with a sharp increase in the potential difference over the soil volume as a result, and that it was possible to control the metal content in the different solutions in the electrodialytic decontamination method.