The present invention relates to the preparation of novel anion exchange membranes from bicomponent or tricomponent copolymers containing both quaternizable and cross-linkable moieties. The bicomponent copolymers consisted with polyacrylonitrile and poly(2-dimethylaminoethyl) methacrylate and the tricomponent copolymers consisted with polyacryloniterle and poly2-dimethylaminoethyl) methacrylate and polyn-butyl acrylate. Quaternization of dimethyl amino groups of copolymer by methyl iodide followed by cross-linking of acrylonitrile groups of copolymer by hydrazine hydrate resulted anion exchange membrane with desired properties such as high ion exchange capacity (1.30-1.50 meqg−1), high transport number (0.92-0.93) for direct use in electrodyalysis unit. The tricomponent anion exchange membrane containing 32 wt % PDMA, 17 wt % PnBA, and 51 wt % PAN exhibited improved performance mainly in terms of low power consumption and high current efficiency during desalination of water.
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