Membrane separation technology asymmetric structures

Most ultrafiltration membranes are porous, asymmetric, polymeric structures produced by phase inversion, i.e., the gelation or precipitation of a species from a soluble phase. See also Membrane Separations Technology. Membrane structure is a function of the materials used (polymer composition, molecular weight distribution, solvent system, etc) and the mode of preparation (solution viscosity, evaporation time, humidity, etc.). Commonly used polymers include cellulose acetates, polyamides, polysulfoncs, dyncls (vinyl chlondc-acrylonitrile copolymers) and puly(vinylidene fluoride). 

The development of asymmetric membrane technology in the 1960 s was a critical point in the history of gas separations. These asymmetric structures consist of a thin (0.1 utol n) dense skin supported on a coarse open-cell foam stmcture. A mmetric membranes composed of the polyimides discussed above can provide extremely high fluxes throuj the thin dense skin, and still possess the inherently hij separation factors of the basic glassy polymers from which they are made. In the early 1960 s, Loeb and Sourirajan described techniques for producing asymmetric cellulose acetate membranes suitable for separation operations. The processes involved in membrane formation are complex. It is believed that the thin dense skin forms at the... 

The first membrane separation was performed with nitrocellulose in 1855. During the following 100 years, the technology played a limited role as a research tool in analytical chemistry. A major breakthrough occurred in 1958-1961 when the anisotropic or asymmetric membrane was developed. While membranes employed previously were uniform throughout, the upper portion of anisotropic membranes represents only 1% of the total film and is the actual filter, the other 99% acting as a support. The thinness of the membrane and the very fine pore structure promote excellent throughput for UF. 

Polymeric materials are still the most widely used membranes for gas separation, and for specific apphcations the separation technology is well established (see Section 4.6). Producing the membranes either as composites with a selective skin layer on flat sheets or as asymmetric hollow fibers are well-known techniques. Figure 4.5 shows an SEM picture of a typical composite polymeric membrane with a selective, thin skin layer of poly(dimethyl)siloxane (PDMS) on a support structure of polypropylene (PP). The polymeric membrane development today is clearly into more carefully tailored membranes for specific... 

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