Osmotic pressure semipermeable membrane

Chemical Equilibrium in homogeneous systems (Dilute solutions continued)— Mechanism of osmotic pressure—Semipermeability of membranes—Modern theory of dilute solutions of electrolytes—Abnormal behaviour of ions and undissociated molecules—Activities of ions—Activity coefficient and degree of ionisation—Activity of molecules... 

First, we consider the experimental aspects of osmometry. The semiperme-able membrane is the basis for an osmotic pressure experiment and is probably its most troublesome feature in practice. The membrane material must display the required selectivity in permeability-passing solvent and retaining solute-but a membrane that works for one system may not work for another. A wide variety of materials have been used as membranes, with cellophane, poly (vinyl alcohol), polyurethanes, and various animal membranes as typical examples. The membrane must be thin enough for the solvent to pass at a reasonable rate, yet sturdy enough to withstand the pressure difference which can be... 

For example, the measurements of solution osmotic pressure made with membranes by Traube and Pfeffer were used by van t Hoff in 1887 to develop his limit law, which explains the behavior of ideal dilute solutions. This work led direcdy to the van t Hoff equation. At about the same time, the concept of a perfectly selective semipermeable membrane was used by MaxweU and others in developing the kinetic theory of gases. 

Osmotic Pressure Controlled Oral Tablets. Alza Corp. has developed a system that is dependent on osmotic pressure developed within a tablet. The core of the tablet is the water-soluble dmg encapsulated in a hydrophobic, semipermeable membrane. Water enters the tablet through the membrane and dissolves the dmg creating a greater osmotic pressure within the tablet. The dmg solution exits at a zero-order rate through a laser drilled hole in the membrane. Should the dmg itself be unable to provide sufficient osmotic pressure to create the necessary pressure gradient, other water-soluble salts or a layer of polymer can be added to the dmg layer. The polymer swells and pushes the dmg solution through the orifice in what is known as a push-pull system (Fig. 3). The exhausted dmg unit then passes out of the body in fecal matter. 

Reverse Osmosis. Osmosis is the flow of solvent through a semipermeable membrane, from a dilute solution to a concentrated solution. This flow results from the driving force created by the difference in pressure between the two solutions. Osmotic pressure is the pressure that must be added to the concentrated solution side to stop the solvent flow through the membrane. Reverse osmosis is the process of reversing the flow, forcing water through a membrane from a concentrated solution to a dilute solution to produce pure water. Figure 2 illustrates the processes of osmosis and reverse osmosis. 

Reverse Osmosis. The process of osmosis is used by plants to obtain food and moisture from the soil. The density of the sap in the roots of the plant is greater than that of the soil water surrounding it. The root wall provides a semipermeable membrane, and the difference in suction across it is the osmotic pressure. 

In reverse osmosis, the osmotic pressure is increased manually to get the water to flow from a high-density area through a semipermeable membrane to the lower-density weaker solution. The water will pass through the membrane and leave the solids behind. A pressure of about 2.76 MPa will extract 90% or more of the dissolved absorbed solids further refinement may be achieved through a base exchange process. 

FIGURE 2.8 The osmotic pressure of a 1 molal (m) solution is equal to 22.4 atmospheres of pressure, (a) If a uoupermeaut solute is separated from pure water by a semipermeable membrane through which H9O passes freely,... 

The deduction adopted is due to M. Planck (Thermodynamik, 3 Aufl., Kap. 5), and depends fundamentally on the separation of the gas mixture, resulting from continuous evaporation of the solution, into its constituents by means of semipermeable membranes. Another method, depending on such a separation applied directly to the solution, i.e., an osmotic process, is due to van t Hoff, who arrived at the laws of equilibrium in dilute solution from the standpoint of osmotic pressure. The applications of the law of mass-action belong to treatises on chemical statics (cf. Mel lor, Chemical Statics and Dynamics) we shall here consider only one or two cases which serve to illustrate some fundamental aspects of the theory. 

Figure 7.10 Schematic representation of the apparatus for measuring osmotic pressure. The flow of solvent through the semipermeable membrane is followed by observing the movement of the meniscus of the flow indicator. The osmotic pressure II is the pressure that must be applied to the solution to prevent the flow.

Osmosis is the flow of solvent through a semipermeable membrane into a solution the osmotic pressure is proportional to the molar concentration of the solute. Osmometry is used to determine the molar masses of compounds with large molecules, such as polymers reverse osmosis is used in water purification. 

A 0.020 vi C6H 206(aq) solution (glucose) is separated from a 0.050 M CO(NH2)2(aq) solution (urea) by a semipermeable membrane at 25°C. For both compounds / = 1. (a) Which solution has the higher osmotic pressure (b) Which solurion becomes more dilute with the passage of H20 molecules through the membrane (c) To which solution should an external pressure be applied to maintain an equilibrium flow of H20 molecules across the membrane (d) What external pressure (in atm) should be applied in part (c) ... 

Osmotic pressure plays an important role in biological chemistry because the cells of the human body are encased in semipermeable membranes and bathed in body fluids. Under normal physiological conditions, the body fluid outside the cells has the same total solute molarity as the fluid inside the cells, and there is no net osmosis across cell membranes. Solutions with the same solute molarity are called isotonic solutions. 

Reverse osmosis can be used to purify water, because the liquid passing through the semipermeable membrane is pure solvent. A water purifier that uses reverse osmosis requires semipermeable membranes that do not rapture under the high pressures required for reverse osmosis. Recall that seawater has an osmotic pressure of nearly 28 atm and that red blood cells rupture at 7 atm. Nevertheless, membranes have been developed that make it feasible to purify water using this technique. Reverse osmosis currently supplies pure drinking water to individual households as well as entire municipalities. 

In these systems, osmotic pressure provides the driving force to generate controlled release of drug. Consider a semipermeable membrane that is permeable to water, but not to drug. A tablet containing a core of drug surrounded by such a membrane is shown in Fig. 9. When this device is exposed to water or any body fluid, water will flow into the tablet owing to the osmotic pressure difference. The rate of flow, dV/dt, of water into the device can be represented as... 

Drug surrounded by semipermeable membrane and release governed by osmotic pressure Zero-order release obtainable Reformulation not required for different drugs... 

The nion term is simply an expression for the osmotic pressure generated across a semipermeable membrane effectively, the gel serves as a membrane which restricts the polyelectrolytes to one phase, while small ions can readily redistribute between phases. Assuming that the ions form an ideal solution, the expression for nion becomes simply... 

Osmosis is the passage of a pure solvent into a solution separated from it by a semipermeable membrane, which is permeable to the solvent but not to the polymeric solute. The osmotic pressure n is the pressure that must be applied to the solution in order to stop the flow. Equilibrium is reached when the chemical potential of the solvent is identical on either side of the membrane. The principle of a membrane osmometer is sketched in Figure 2. 

If a solution and the pure solvent are separated by a semipermeable membrane, the solvent tends to pass through the membrane into the solution, and the osmotic pressure is the pressure that must be applied to the latter to keep the solvent from entering into it. The term osmotic pressure of the solution is, therefore, strictly speaking, incorrect, as osmotic pressure is, according to the definition, produced only when the solution is separated from the solvent by a semipermeable membrane. If this is remembered, it disposes of the objection sometimes raised that osmotic pressure works the wrong way, in that it causes motion from places of lower to places of higher osmotic pressure. It is osmosis which causes osmotic pressure, and not osmotic pressure which produces osmosis. 

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