Electro-Membrane Process for In Situ Ion Substitution and Separation of Salicylic Acid from its Sodium Salt

An electrochemical membrane process (EMP) with three compartments (anolyte, catholyte, and central compartment) based on in-house-prepared cation-exchange membrane (CEM) was developed to achieve in situ ion substitution and recovery of salicylic acid (SAH) from its sodium salt. The physicochemical and electrochemical properties of the ion-exchange membrane (cation- and anion-exchange membrane) under standard operating conditions reveal its suitability for the proposed reactor. Experiments using sodium salicylate (SANa) solutions of different concentrations were carried out under varied applied current density to study the feasibility of the process. Overall electrochemical reaction for the in situ ion substitution and separation of SAH from SANa under operating conditions is also proposed. Results showed that developed EMP with CEMs proved promising for the in situ ion substitution and separation of SAH with recovery of SAH with current efficiency close to 90% and energy consumption around 10 kW h/kg of t...