Process for preparing an ion exchange membrane

摘要

A novel process is provided in which a membrane of a fluorinated resin having pendant ion exchange precursor groups represented by at least one formula selected from the group consisting of: -SO2X and -CY wherein X represents a halogen atom or -OR in which R represents an alkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms, and Y represents a nitrogen atom or -OX in which X is as defined above, is contacted with an aqueous solution of a basic organic compound for a period of time sufficient to perform the hydrolysis of the precursor groups. In the process of the present invention, a complicated pre-swelling step as conventionally conducted in the art is advantageously omitted. Nevertheless, an ion exchange membrane having excellent dimensional stability and performance stability can be obtained. In addition, when the obtained membrane is used in an electrolytic cell, the cell exhibits an extremely low cell voltage.