Microbial desalination cell (MDC) is a bioelectrochemical system capable of oxidizing organics, generating electricity, while reducing the salinity content of brine streams. As it is designed, anion and cation exchange membranes play an important role on the selective removal of ions from the desalination chamber. In this work, sulfonated sodium (Na⁺) poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) cation exchange membranes (CEM) were tested in combination with quaternary ammonium chloride poly(2,6-dimethyl 1,4-phenylene oxide) (QAPPO) anion exchange membrane (AEM). Non-patterned and patterned (varying topographical features) CEMs were investigated and assessed in this work. The results were contrasted against a commercially available CEM. This work used real seawater from the Pacific Ocean in the desalination chamber. The results displayed a high desalination rate and power generation for all the membranes, with a maximum of 78.6 ± 2.0% in salinity reduction and 235 ± 7 mW m⁻² in power generation for the MDCs with the SPEEK CEM. Desalination rate and power generation achieved are higher with synthesized SPEEK membranes when compared with an available commercial CEM. An optimized combination of these types of membranes substantially improves the performances of MDC, making the system more suitable for real applications.

微生物脱盐池（MDC）是一种生物电化学系统，能够氧化有机物，发电，同时降低盐水流的盐度含量。根据设计，阴离子和阳离子交换膜在从脱盐室选择性去除离子方面起着重要作用。在这项工作中，磺化钠（Na ⁺）聚醚醚酮（SPEEK）阳离子交换膜（CEM）与季铵氯化物聚（2,6-二甲基1,4-苯撑氧）（QAPPO）阴离子交换膜（AEM）结合进行了测试。在这项工作中，对非图案和图案（变化的地形特征）CEM进行了调查和评估。将结果与市售CEM进行对比。这项工作在淡化室中使用了来自太平洋的真实海水。结果表明，所有膜均具有较高的脱盐率和发电能力，最大盐度降低率为78.6±2.0％，最大为235±7 mW m ^-2。SPEEK CEM为MDC发电。与市售的CEM相比，合成的SPEEK膜实现的脱盐率和发电更高。这些类型的膜的优化组合可显着改善MDC的性能，从而使该系统更适合实际应用。