This paper investigates the effect of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as the intermediate layer of bipolar membranes on water dissociation. The bipolar membranes are prepared by coating a solution Of sulfonated polyphenylene oxide (SPPO) on the anion exchange layers, which had been immersed in PVA aqueous solutions with different concentrations in advance. The experimental results show that the effect of PVA on water dissociation is significantly affected by its concentration: at low concentration range PVA solution catalyzes water dissociation and at high concentration range PVA solution shows a retardant effect. The phenomenon is different from the situation where polyethylene glycol (PEG) is used as the intermediate layer. Based on the adsorption data and the measurements of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, it is found that (1) the effect of PVA concentration on water dissociation can be explained by the competition and compromise of two effects-the catalytic and hydrophilic effect of the PVA molecule and the steric effect of the enlargement of junction thickness; (2) the reason that at high concentration range PVA and PEG show different effects on water dissociation is that the junction thickness is enlarged excessively by PVA, which is based on the intrinsic characteristics of PVA molecules. (c) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.