Global Bipolar Membranes Market Research Report 2023-Competitive Analysis, Status and Outlook by Type, Downstream Industry, and Geography, Forecast to 2029

Global Bipolar Membranes Market Research Report 2023-Competitive Analysis, Status and Outlook by Type, Downstream Industry, and Geography, Forecast to 2029

Bipolar membranes carry out the dissociation of water in the presence of an electric field. These membranes are composed of three parts: an anion-exchange layer, a cation-exchange layer, and a hydrophilic interface at their junction. When a direct current is applied, the water molecules migrate into the hydrophilic layer where they are split into H+ and OH-. Bipolar membrane (BPM) appeared commercially at the end of the 1980s.
Bipolar Membrane (BPM) is a special type of ion exchange membrane consisting of a cation exchange layer and an anion exchange layer, allowing the generation of protons and hydroxide ions through a hydrolysis mechanism. This unique characteristic makes bipolar membranes attractive for various applications in many fields, such as (bio)chemical industry, food processing, environmental protection, energy conversion and storage, etc. Bipolar membrane is a new type of ion exchange composite membrane. It is usually composed of a cation exchange layer (N-type membrane), an intermediate interface hydrophilic layer (catalytic layer) and an anion exchange layer (P-type membrane). It is a true reaction membrane.

Market Overview:

The latest research study on the global Bipolar Membranes market finds that the global Bipolar Membranes market reached a value of USD 115.15 million in 2022. It’s expected that the market will achieve USD 274.45 million by 2028, exhibiting a CAGR of 15.58% during the forecast period.

The downstream market demand continues to grow.

The downstream range of bipolar membranes is very wide, and the importance of bipolar membranes in various fields such as chlor-alkali processing, energy and water treatment is increasing. Globally, the bipolar membrane market is mainly driven by the continuous growth of the downstream application market demand, especially the demand for chlor-alkali processing. Many countries around the world continue to develop the chemical industry, and some developing countries have introduced policies to support the chemical industry, such as some countries in Asia and the Middle East and Africa. In addition, in recent years, China, the United States, Japan and other countries have stepped up research and development of new energy, which has accelerated the development of the energy industry. This is also one of the factors that promote the development of the bipolar membrane industry.

Research and development of products and new processes that meet the higher demands of the market.

With the development of global process technology, bipolar membranes have more and more preparation methods, and more and more manufacturers are increasing R&D or entering the industry. Buyers in the downstream market have higher and higher requirements for products, and different requirements for bipolar membranes are also put forward for different application fields. This requires manufacturers to increase R&D efforts, develop and produce products that meet the higher demands of the market, or develop new production processes. These opportunities and challenges coexist for manufacturers.

Region Overview:

Asia Pacific dominated the Bipolar Membranes market in 2022, with a market share of 53.91%.

Company Overview:

ASTOM is one of the major players operating in the Bipolar Membranes market, holding a share of 48.67% in 2023.

ASTOM

ASTOM provides top quality products and services with its world-class hydrocarbon-based ion exchange membranes and electrodialysis technology validated by more than fifty years of accumulation in industries.

Asahi Kasei is one of the shareholders of ASTOM and holds 45% of the shares. The bipolar membrane is produced by ASTOM.

SUEZ

Suez is a French-based utility company which operates largely in the water and waste management sectors. Mainly engaged in water supply, power supply and natural gas supply and waste management business. Customers include food and beverages, metals and mining, power, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, downstream and petrochemical oil and gas, upstream oil and gas, pulp and paper, and utilities.

Segmentation Overview:

By type, Homogeneous Bipolar Membranes segment accounted for the largest share of market in 2022.

Homogeneous Bipolar Membranes

Homogeneous bipolar membrane is a membrane with uniform cross-section made of one membrane material. Homogeneous membranes are made by incorporating ionic groups into polymer membranes. Their ionic group distribution is more uniform, and because there is no inert binder, their inter-gel volume fraction is lower. A smooth interface is a characteristic of homogeneous BPM. In a homogeneous membrane, the charged groups are evenly distributed in the membrane matrix.

Heterogeneous Bipolar Membranes

Heterogeneous membranes are made of ion exchange resins and generally exhibit high electrical resistance and relatively poor mechanical strength, especially when they are highly swollen in water. The advantage of heterogeneous bipolar membranes that are heterogeneous BPM is that they can be produced from any type of ion exchange resin. In a heterogeneous membrane, ion exchange groups are contained in small areas distributed throughout the inert support matrix to provide mechanical support.

Application Overview:

By application, the Chlor-Alkali Processing segment occupied the biggest share from 2018 to 2022.

Chlor-Alkali Processing

The chlor-alkali process is a sodium chloride solution used in the electrolysis of industrial processes. It is a technology used to produce chlorine and sodium hydroxide (lye/caustic soda), which are commercial chemicals required by the industry. The most common chlor-alkali process involves the electrolysis of aqueous sodium chloride solutions in membrane cells. The bipolar membrane can be used in the chlor-alkali process as an ion exchange membrane for the production of chlor-alkali products.

Energy

Bipolar membranes can be used in the production of batteries in the energy industry. Bipolar membranes can be used to maintain a stable pH gradient between the anode and cathode compartments of the electrolytic cell. Bipolar membranes can be used in fuel cells, flow batteries, etc. For example, a vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) with a bipolar membrane is expected to provide higher performance because the cation exchange layer has high conductivity, and the anion exchange layer reduces the crossover of vanadium.

Water Treatment

Bipolar membranes can be used in the water treatment industry. Bipolar membranes can realize acid-base separation at low cost, and have excellent application prospects in many subdivisions such as high-salt wastewater resource recovery, acid-base separation, organic acid recovery, and are considered to be a key technology for zero emissions. The treatment of high-salt wastewater has increasingly become an environmental problem that must be solved, which severely restricts industrial production such as petrochemicals, biopharmaceuticals, food fermentation, catalyst synthesis, and carbon fiber production. For example, high-salt wastewater is difficult to biochemically degrade, and the reverse osmosis membrane method usually can only be concentrated to a salt concentration of 5-8%, while the cost of thermal evaporation is higher. The bipolar membrane electrodialysis technology can realize the direct decomposition of brine into acid and alkali to realize resource recycling. The investment cost is only 30% of the thermal method, and the operating cost is only 10% of the thermal method. It is an economically feasible, easy to operate and maintain, safe and reliable concentrated salt treatment technology.

Key Companies in the global Bipolar Membranes market covered in Chapter 3:

SUEZ
ASTOM
Fumatech
Liaoning Yichen
Tingrun
Hangzhou Lanran

In Chapter 4 and Chapter 14.2, on the basis of types, the Bipolar Membranes market from 2018 to 2029 is primarily split into:

Homogeneous Bipolar Membranes
Heterogeneous Bipolar Membranes

In Chapter 5 and Chapter 14.3, on the basis of Downstream Industry, the Bipolar Membranes market from 2018 to 2029 covers:

Chlor-Alkali Processing
Energy
Water Treatment
Others

Geographically, the detailed analysis of consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate, historic and forecast (2018-2029) of the following regions are covered in Chapter 8 to Chapter 14:

North America (United States, Canada)
Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Russia, Netherlands, Turkey, Switzerland, Sweden)
Asia Pacific (China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia)
Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina)
Middle East & Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, South Africa)