Vered Shapiro

Dr. Gabriel Rubanenko Prize for Excellence in Water Research, 2005.

Unit of Environmental Engineering
and Department of Desalination & Water Treatment,
Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research,
Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research,
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

My name is Vered Shapiro. I was born and raised in the city of Haifa, Israel. After my military service I came to Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beer Sheva to study Life Sciences. I received my under-graduate diploma in Ecology studies and went on to study for a graduate degree in the Environmental Engineering unit.
For my thesis work I joined the water desalination group at the Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research. My research deals with improved ion-exchange membranes, typically used in water desalination processes but also of great potential in the production of efficient fuel cells.

Description of research:

Characterization of "Ordered" Ion-Exchange Membranes

Supervisors: Dr. Yoram Oren and Dr. Slava Freger

In this research we are exploring a novel way of preparing highly conductive heterogeneous ion-exchange membranes for electrodialysis and fuel cells.
By applying a strong electric field to the membrane surface, randomly distributed ion-exchange particles are aligned in continuous conductive chains in the direction of the electric field. In this configuration the particles become much closer to each other.
The conductivity percolation threshold is significantly lower in ordered membranes than in non-ordered membranes. This results in reduced concentrations of ion-exchange material required to obtain a certain ionic conductivity. In turn the swelling degree of the ordered membranes is relatively low compared to that of non-ordered membranes, indicating higher strength and shape stability.
As for the transport properties, "ordered" membranes were observed to be less polarizing than non-ordered membranes of the same resin concentration. Moreover, polarization is reduced as ion-exchange domains become smaller.