Abstract: In this paper, hybrid membranes containing SiO2 particles were prepared by a crosslinking reaction of poly(vinyl alcohol) with sulfonated chitosan in the sol-gel process, and the effect of sulfonated chitosan content on the structure and performance of hybrid membranes was investigated by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, dynamic mechanical analysis, ion-exchange capacity, water uptake and linear expansion. The results indicated that the hybrid membranes presented water-uptake amounts of 10 wt %~15 wt %, linear expansion rates of 10 %~15 % and ion-exchange capacities of 0.10~0.65 mmol/g. The hybrid membranes prepared exhibited an excellent OH- ion transport property and acceptable selectivity, and their dialysis coefficient and separation factor of alkali recovery were in the range of 0.0135~0.0160 m/h and 15.6~26.9, respectively.