Application of Bipolar Membrane Electrodialysis in Environmental Protection and Resource Recovery: A Review

Abstract

Bipolar membrane electrodialysis (BMED) is a new membrane separation technology composed of electrodialysis (ED) through a bipolar membrane (BPM). Under the action of an electric field, H2O can be dissociated to H+ and OH−, and the anions and cations in the solution can be recovered as acids and bases, respectively, without adding chemical reagents, which reduces the application cost and carbon footprint, and leads to simple operation and high efficiency. Its application is becoming more widespread and promising, and it has become a research hotspot. This review mainly introduces the application of BMED to recovering salts in the form of acids and bases, CO2 capture, ammonia nitrogen recovery, and ion removal and recovery from wastewater. Finally, BMED is summarized, and future prospects are discussed.