Influence of various parameters on membrane morphology

In the previous section the thermodynamic and kinetic relationships have been given to describe membrane formation by phase inversion processes. These relationships contain various parameters which have a large impact on the diffusion and demixing processes and hence on the ultimate membrane morphology. It has been shown that two different types of membranes may be obtained, the porous membrane (microfiltration and ultrafiltration) and the nonporous membrane (pervaporation and gas separation), depending on the type of formation mechanism, i.e. instantaneous demixing or delayed onset of demixing, involved. 

In this respect the choice of the polymer is not so important, although it directly influences the range solvents and nonsolvents that can be used. In this section the effect of various parameters on membrane morphology will be described. Two widely used polymers, polysulfone (PSf) and cellulose acetate (CA) will be taken as examples. The following factors will be described  

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