Membrane drawbacks

Membrane retention Advantageous for allosteric enzymes. The enzyme and the derivatized coenzyme are retained by the membrane. Drawback problems at high shear rate. 38... 

The combination of organic and inorganic materials is under investigation by different groups in an attempt to minimize the membrane drawbacks at high temperature. Inorganic additives can help to keep water in the membrane at higher temperatures or contribute for the proton conductivity themselves. 

The presence of macrovoids in hoUow-fiber membranes is a serious drawback since it increases the fragUity of the fiber and limits its abUity to withstand hydrauhc pressures. Such fibers have lower elongation and tensile strength. 

The primary site of action is postulated to be the Hpid matrix of cell membranes. The Hpid properties which are said to be altered vary from theory to theory and include enhancing membrane fluidity volume expansion melting of gel phases increasing membrane thickness, surface tension, and lateral surface pressure and encouraging the formation of polar dislocations (10,11). Most theories postulate that changes in the Hpids influence the activities of cmcial membrane proteins such as ion channels. The Hpid theories suffer from an important drawback at clinically used concentrations, the effects of inhalational anesthetics on Hpid bilayers are very small and essentially undetectable (6,12,13). 

Another possibility of constructing a chiral membrane system is to prepare a solution of the chiral selector which is retained between two porous membranes, acting as an enantioselective liquid carrier for the transport of one of the enantiomers from the feed solution of the racemate to the receiving side (Fig. 1-5). This system is often referred to as membrane-assisted separation. The selector should not be soluble in the solvent used for the elution of the enantiomers, whose transport is driven by a gradient in concentration or pH between the feed and receiving phases. As a drawback common to all these systems, it should be mentioned that the transport of one enantiomer usually decreases when the enantiomer ratio in the permeate diminishes. Nevertheless, this can be overcome by designing a system where two opposite selectors are used to transport the two enantiomers of a racemic solution simultaneously, as it was already applied in W-tube experiments [171]. 

In general, high selectivities can be obtained in liquid membrane systems. However, one disadvantage of this technique is that the enantiomer ratio in the permeate decreases rapidly when the feed stream is depleted in one enantiomer. Racemization of the feed would be an approach to tackle this problem or, alternatively, using a system containing the two opposite selectors, so that the feed stream remains virtually racemic [21]. Another potential drawback of supported enantioselective liquid membranes is the application on an industrial scale. Often a complex multistage process is required in order to achieve the desired purity of the product. This leads to a relatively complicated flow scheme and expensive process equipment for large-scale separations. 

Cellulose was the first type of solid support introduced for SPPS [91 ] however, the scope of its use is limited by low loading capacity ( 0.1 mmol/g) and chemical stability. In spite of these drawbacks, microwave-assisted synthesis was successfully performed on cellulose membranes [92-94] and beads [95]. 

Another major drawback of polysaccharides is their hydrophilic nature leading to low degrees of adhesion between fiber and matrix [11]. Moisture absorption takes place by three types of mechanisms namely diffusion, capillarity, and transport via micro cracks [2]. Among the three, diffusion is considered to be the major mechanism. Water absorption largely depends on the water-soluble or hygroscopic components embedded in the matrix, which acts as a semipermeable membrane. While, fiber/matrix adhesion and fiber architecture also affect the moisture absorption. The results of the water sorption experiment showed an interesting trend. The extent of water uptake was not very significant and also did not increase linearly with amount of filler (Table-2). 

Although ORR catalysts for DMFCs are mostly identical to those for the PEM fuel cell, one additional and serious drawback in the DMFC case is the methanol crossover from the anode to the cathode compartment of the membrane electrode assembly, giving rise to simultaneous methanol oxidation at the cathode. The... 

Therefore, one main drawback of the PEMFC configuration with a standard proton exchange membrane (such as Nafion) and a standard platinum gas diffusion cathode is the cathode depolarization caused by a mixed potential resulting from the methanol crossover through the mem-... 

There are several drawbacks to the RDC that need to be emphasized. First, the fact that the interface must be supported adds a considerable resistance to the transport of species, which is in addition to that from the concentration boundary layers on both sides of the membrane. This limits the range of kinetics that can be studied. Second, in practical applications, blocking of the membrane can be problematic for some reactions. Third, measurements are generally made in the bulk of the solution and not at the interface although, as mentioned above, for certain processes it is possible to measure fluxes via a ring or an arc electrode. 

However, there seems to be some drawback in the solubility or dispersibility of ion-sensing material in silicone rubber. This is mainly because silicone rubber does not contain a large quantity of plasticizer as the membrane solvent, in which neutral carriers can be dissolved easily, unlike in plasticized-PVC ion-sensing membranes. This issue is serious, especially with silicone-rubber membranes containing neutral carriers that show high crystallinity. Valinomycin, a typical ionophore, seems applicable to silicone-rubber-based K" -selec-tive electrodes [7,8,12-14]. Conventional crown-ether-based neutral carriers are also quite soluble in silicone rubber. 

Appropriate fabrication of sol-gel-derived membranes encapsulating neutral carriers such as valinomycin can afford an excellent type of neutral-carrier-type ion-sensing membranes for ISFETs [27] as already mentioned. The simple encapsulation of neutral carriers in sol-gel-derived membranes, however, has a drawback the encapsulated neutral carriers are still apt to exude from the membranes into aqueous sample solutions, which thereby makes the resulting ion sensors less durable and more toxic. Incorporation of neutral carriers to sol-gel-derived membranes by covalent bonding is desirable. 

There are several approaches to estimating absorption using in vitro methods, notably Caco-2 and MDCK cell-based methods or using methods that assess passive permeability, for example the parallel artificial membrane permeation assay (PAMPA) method. These are reviewed elsewhere in this book. The assays are very useful, and usually have an important role in the screening cascades for drug discovery projects. However, as discussed below, the cell-based assays are not without their drawbacks, and it is often appropriate to use ex vivo and/or in vivo absorption assays. 

One of the major drawbacks of SOD as putative pharmaceutical agent is its small plasma half-life. It has been suggested that this shortcoming might be corrected by the chemical modification of SOD, for example, by binding to water-soluble polymers [17] or the entrapment in liposomes [18]. However, it seems that the membrane-permeable, low molecular weight compounds to be more promising for the use as SOD mimics. Two major types of... 

One drawback relating to this filtration technique is its susceptibility to rapid membrane clogging. Viscous solutions also lead to rapid decreases in flow rates and prolonged processing times. 

Platinum is generally acknowledged as the most effective catalyst for the electroreduction of oxygen in a wide range of conditions (e.g. fuel cells). In the instance of aqueous HC1 electrolysis, the basic drawback is corrosion or deactivation of the catalyst during cell shutdown, owing to chemical attack from HC1 and chlorine that diffuse across the membrane. 

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