Title: ion-exchange polymer
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - ion-exchange polymer
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.IT07155
Status: current

Definition
Polymer that is able to exchange ions (cations or anions) with ionic components in solution.

Notes
1) An ion-exchange polymer in ionized form may also be referred to as a polyanion or a polycation.
2) Synthetic ion-exchange organic polymers are often network polyelectrolytes.
3) A membrane having ion-exchange groups is called an ion-exchange membrane.
4) Use of the term 'ion-exchange resin' for 'ion-exchange polymer' is strongly discouraged.

Related Terms
- ion exchange: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/I03167
- membrane: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/MT06878
- network: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/NT07562
- resin: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/RT07166

Source
- PAC, 2004, 76, 889. 'Definitions of terms relating to reactions of polymers and to functional polymeric materials (IUPAC Recommendations 2003)' on page 895 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac200476040889)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/IT07155/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/IT07155/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/IT07155/xml

Citation: Citation: 'ion-exchange polymer' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.IT07155
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Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-06-20T13:00:31+00:00