Polymeric membranes films

A number of matrices have been used for the immobilisation of enzymes on various matrices, such as polymeric films, membranes, gels, carbon and silica, etc. [43-46]. To overcome the problems of slow electron transfer reactions of biological molecules at ordinary electrodes. 

In order to maintain a definite contact area, soHd supports for the solvent membrane can be introduced (85). Those typically consist of hydrophobic polymeric films having pore sizes between 0.02 and 1 p.m. Figure 9c illustrates a hoUow fiber membrane where the feed solution flows around the fiber, the solvent—extractant phase is supported on the fiber wall, and the strip solution flows within the fiber. Supported membranes can also be used in conventional extraction where the supported phase is continuously fed and removed. This technique is known as dispersion-free solvent extraction (86,87). The level of research interest in membrane extraction is reflected by the fact that the 1990 International Solvent Extraction Conference (20) featured over 50 papers on this area, mainly as appHed to metals extraction. Pilot-scale studies of treatment of metal waste streams by Hquid membrane extraction have been reported (88). The developments in membrane technology have been reviewed (89). Despite the research interest and potential, membranes have yet to be appHed at an industrial production scale (90). 

Media made from woven or nonwoven fabrics coated with a polymeric film, such as Primapor, made by SCAPA Filtration, and Gore-Tex, made by W. L. Gore and Associates, combine the high retentivity charac teristics of a membrane with the strength and durability of a thick filter cloth. These media are used on both continuous and batch filters where excellent filtrate clarity is required. 

Membrane A thin polymeric film with pores. 

Materials similar to Nation containing immobilized —COO- or —NR3+ groups on a perfluorinated skeleton were also synthesized. These are available in the form of solid membranes or solutions in organic solvents the former can readily be used as solid electrolytes in the so called solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) cells, the latter are suitable for preparing ion-exchange polymeric films on electrodes simply by evaporating the polymer solution in a suitable solvent. 

Membranes can be homogeneous, where the whole membrane participates in the permeation of a substance, or heterogeneous, where the active component is anchored in a suitable support (for solid membranes) or absorbed in a suitable diaphragm or acts as a plasticizer in a polymeric film. Both of the latter cases are connected with liquid membranes. Biological membranes show heterogeneity at a molecular level. 

The anion optical sensor can also be fabricated with metalloporphyr-ins. For example, polymeric membranes doped with indium porphyrins and a lipophilic dichlorofluorescein derivative were shown to be very selective to chloride and acetate anions. The response mechanism is based on extraction of anions into the bulk organic film by indium porphyrins and a simultaneous coextraction of hydrogen ions. This results in protonation of the pH chromophore, and hence a change in the optical absorbance of the polymeric film. 

The above difficulties are removed in the new version of the liquid membrane, which employs a polymeric film with the ion-exchanger solution functioning as a plasticizer. Then it is much easier to prepare a membrane without leaks and using only a minute amount of the ion-exchanger solution. When the membrane ceases to function, it is simply replaced. For a survey of those electrodes see [109,111,112,113, 180] they are generally termed solvent-polymeric membranes [180] or polyvinyl chloride-matrix membranes [112]. 

The function of an immuno-electrode [28] containing a model antibody (Concanavalin A) fixed in a polymeric film on a platinum electrode is probably based on other effects than those utilized in ISEs. Immuno-electrodes suitable for direct determination of antibodies were prepared by fixing a conjugate of an ionophore and an immunogen (for example the compound of dibenzo-18-crown-6 with dinitrophenol) in a PVC membrane. This system responded to the antibody against dinitrophenol [52, 53]. 

GC material was widely modified with conducting (or nonconducting) polymers in order to obtain an improved surface for DNA adsorption and detection. The initial approaches were performed by the physical attachment of nylon or nitrocellulose membranes on GC electrodes [51]. As explained, these membranes were extensively used in classical DNA analysis due to their well-known adsorption properties [33]. Other approaches were performed by the direct adsorption of the polymeric film on the GC surface. Finally, polymeric films were electrochemically grown on the GC substrate. These conducting polymers are particularly promising for the adsorption, but also for inducing electrical signals obtained from DNA interactions. 

Membrane filters are usually made by casting a polymer solution on a surface and then gelling the liquid film slowly by exposing it to humid air. The size of the pores in the membranes can be varied by altering the composition of the casting solution or the gelation condition. Another common technique is to irradiate a thin polymeric film in a field of a-particles and then chemically etch the film to produce well-defined pores. 

Membranes are thin polymeric films that may permit the faster diffusion of some molecules than of others. Thin films of polymers are widely used for the separation of gases and for liquid-phase separations (dialysis). Because of the ease of property tuning, polyphosphazenes are of great interest for these types of applications, although only a few examples have yet been investigated. 

The most extensive studies of plasma-polymerized membranes were performed in the 1970s and early 1980s by Yasuda, who tried to develop high-performance reverse osmosis membranes by depositing plasma films onto microporous poly-sulfone films [60,61]. More recently other workers have studied the gas permeability of plasma-polymerized films. For example, Stancell and Spencer [62] were able to obtain a gas separation plasma membrane with a hydrogen/methane selectivity of almost 300, and Kawakami et al. [63] have reported plasma membranes... 

The SIMS image of the 0 ions for the sectioned polymer coated theophylline beads is shown in Figure 9. The distribution of the 0 ions is primarily concentrated in the region of the polymeric membrane coating and highlights the continuity of the polymeric film. 

Coated-wire electrodes (CWEs), introduced by Freiser in the mid-1970s, are prepared by coating an appropriate polymeric film directly onto a conductor (Fig. 5.18). The ion-responsive membrane is commonly based on poly(vinyl... 

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