Osmotic diffusion

Nonimmediate- or sustained-release devices can be divided into two categories. The first is a reservoir device whereby the dmg is loaded into the reservoir as either a solid or a liquid. Dmg release occurs by diffusion through either a semipermeable membrane or a small orifice. Lasers are commonly used to generate uniform orifices through which the dmg will diffuse. Osmotic pressure is commonly used to provide the driving force for dmg dispersion. The second is a matrix diffusion device whereby the dmg is dispersed evenly in a solid matrix. Polymers are commonly used as the matrix. Dmg delivery is accomplished by either dissolution of the matrix, with corresponding release of dmg, or diffusion of the dmg from the insoluble matrix. 

Xylem and phloem containing solutions of lower osmotic pressure than the hypertonic solution will be penetrated by the osmoactive substance by diffusion. Osmotic pressure flow can also take place. 

Viscosity is, of course, not a useful technique to investigate microemulsion structure. Like diffusion, osmotic pressure and compressibility, the viscosity is sensitive to interactions and it is rather an interesting technique to study interactions in systems of known structure. It can, however, report on shape changes of microemulsion droplets since a growth of spherical droplets into larger non-spherical shapes is followed by a significant increase in the solution viscosity. 

Microreticular Resins. Microreticular resins, by contrast, are elastic gels that, in the dry state, avidly absorb water and other polar solvents in which they are immersed. While taking up solvent, the gel structure expands until the retractile stresses of the distended polymer network balance the osmotic effect. In nonpolar solvents, little or no swelling occurs and diffusion is impaired. 

AletabolicFunctions. The chlorides are essential in the homeostatic processes maintaining fluid volume, osmotic pressure, and acid—base equihbria (11). Most chloride is present in body fluids a Htde is in bone salts. Chloride is the principal anion accompanying Na" in the extracellular fluid. Less than 15 wt % of the CF is associated with K" in the intracellular fluid. Chloride passively and freely diffuses between intra- and extracellular fluids through the cell membrane. If chloride diffuses freely, but most CF remains in the extracellular fluid, it follows that there is some restriction on the diffusion of phosphate. As of this writing (ca 1994), the nature of this restriction has not been conclusively estabUshed. There may be a transport device (60), or cell membranes may not be very permeable to phosphate ions minimising the loss of HPO from intracellular fluid (61). 

Exxon products appear to release via a unique mechanism. Like other polymer-coated technologies, the penetration of water iato the granule is purely by diffusion. However, as water enters the particle, an osmotic pressure is created as the fertilizer is solubilized. This pressure causes an expansion of the elastomeric coating and the particle swells to many times its original diameter. As the particle swells, the coating becomes increasingly thinner to the point where it caimot contain the internal pressure and the nutrient is released. 

Nutrients are released from POLYON-coated fertilizers by osmotic diffusion. The RLC process permits appHcation of ultrathin, hence lower cost, membrane coatings which distinguishes this technology from many other polymer-coated fertilizers. The coating thickness determines the diffusion rate and the duration of release. POLYON-coated urea at a 4% coating (44% N) will release at twice the rate and will have half the duration as an 8% coating... 

Osmotic Control. Several oral osmotic systems (OROS) have been developed by the Alza Corporation to allow controUed deHvery of highly water-soluble dmgs. The elementary osmotic pump (94) consists of an osmotic core containing dmg surrounded by a semi-permeable membrane having a laser-drilled deHvery orifice. The system looks like a conventional tablet, yet the outer layer allows only the diffusion of water into the core of the unit. The rate of water diffusion into the system is controUed by the membrane s permeabUity to water and by the osmotic activity of the core. Because the membrane does not expand as water is absorbed, the dmg solution must leave the interior of the tablet through the smaU orifice at the same rate that water enters by osmosis. The osmotic driving force is constant until aU of the dmg is dissolved thus, the osmotic system maintains a constant deHvery rate of dmg until the time of complete dissolution of the dmg. 

Salt flux across a membrane is due to effects coupled to water transport, usually negligible, and diffusion across the membrane. Eq. (22-60) describes the basic diffusion equation for solute passage. It is independent of pressure, so as AP — AH 0, rejection 0. This important factor is due to the kinetic nature of the separation. Salt passage through the membrane is concentration dependent. Water passage is dependent on P — H. Therefore, when the membrane is operating near the osmotic pressure of the feed, the salt passage is not diluted by much permeate water. 

This application is designed to model the influence of various concentrations of a solute near one edge of the membrane, on the diffusion of water through the membrane. Specifically we are interested in determining whether the model reveals a difference in the flow of water out of one compartment relative to the other. It is well known that if a semipermeable membrane is impervious to a solute on one side of a membrane, a greater flow of water from the other side will occur. This is a model of the osmotic effect, the flow of water through the... 

The various physical methods in use at present involve measurements, respectively, of osmotic pressure, light scattering, sedimentation equilibrium, sedimentation velocity in conjunction with diffusion, or solution viscosity. All except the last mentioned are absolute methods. Each requires extrapolation to infinite dilution for rigorous fulfillment of the requirements of theory. These various physical methods depend basically on evaluation of the thermodynamic properties of the solution (i.e., the change in free energy due to the presence of polymer molecules) or of the kinetic behavior (i.e., frictional coefficient or viscosity increment), or of a combination of the two. Polymer solutions usually exhibit deviations from their limiting infinite dilution behavior at remarkably low concentrations. Hence one is obliged not only to conduct the experiments at low concentrations but also to extrapolate to infinite dilution from measurements made at the lowest experimentally feasible concentrations. 

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