The salt splitting performance of a novel composite membrane consisting of a thin film of NASICON (Na_(1+x)Zr-2Si_xP_(3-x)O_(12), 0<=x<=3) deposited on a commercial cation-selective polymeric membrane has been evaluated. The present work investigated how the NASICON film thickness and the technique of deposition affected the base current efficiency. It was found that when general coverage of the polymeric substrate is achieved, the NASICON film improves the salt splitting performance of the polymeric membrane even when localized surface imperfections are present. The mechanical properties of the NASICON film were observed to affect the base current efficiency (BCE) more than film morphology or chemical composition. the study showed that the BCE of an electrolysis cell is the same whether the composite membrane is made by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) or by sputtering. In terms of current efficiency, the optimal NASICON thickness was found to be in the 70-100 nm range for the salt splitting conditions investigated.
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