Porous membranes types

A variety of post-column concentrators has been described, mainly for gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, but these can also be used for improving the signal-to-noise ratio, as usefully reviewed by Freedman [103]. The devices fall into four main groups the jet separators [104-106] the fritted glass separators [107,108] the porous membrane type [109-112] and those dependent on polymeric membranes such as silicone or heated Teflon [112—114]. 

In supported liquid membranes, a chiral liquid is immobilized in the pores of a membrane by capillary and interfacial tension forces. The immobilized film can keep apart two miscible liquids that do not wet the porous membrane. Vaidya et al. [10] reported the effects of membrane type (structure and wettability) on the stability of solvents in the pores of the membrane. Examples of chiral separation by a supported liquid membrane are extraction of chiral ammonium cations by a supported (micro-porous polypropylene film) membrane [11] and the enantiomeric separation of propranolol (2) and bupranolol (3) by a nitrate membrane with a A/ -hexadecyl-L-hydroxy proline carrier [12]. 

Kcurentjes et al. (1996) have also reported the separation of racemic mixtures. Two liquids are made oppositely chiral by the addition of R- or S-enantiomers of a chiral selector, respectively. These liquids are miscible, but are kept separated by a non-miscible liquid contained in a porous membrane. These authors have used different types of hollow-fibre modules and optimization of shell-side flow distribution was carried out. The liquid membrane should be permeable to the enantiomers to be separated but non-permeable to the chiral selector molecules. Separation of racemic mixtures like norephedrine, ephedrine, phenyl glycine, salbutanol, etc. was attempted and both enantiomers of 99.3 to 99.8% purity were realized. 

Heterogeneous liquid membrane electrodes. This type, which has become of considerable practical importance, consists of a liquid ion-exchange layer or a complex-forming layer within a hydrophobic porous membrane of plastic (PTFE, PVC, etc.), sintered glass or filtering textile (glass-fibre, etc.). The construction of such an electrode is depicted in Fig. 2.12. 

Consider a system in which both solutions contain various ions for which the membrane is permeable (diffusible ions) and one type of ion that, for some reason (e.g. a macromolecular ion for a porous membrane), cannot pass through the membrane (non-diffusible ion). The membrane is permeable for the solvent. 

Besides the synthesis methods for porous membranes and their modification methods discussed above, other synthesis methods have been reported. These are outlined below. Preparation of dense membranes is discussed in Section 2.2. The other types are the so-called dynamically formed membranes which... 

At the turn of the century, considerable attempts were being made to find suitable membrane models. These models fall into two groups compact, usually liquid ( oil ) and soUd membranes [10, 33, 62, 75] and porous membranes [9]. At the very beginning of the study of compact membranes, the glass electrode was discovered [ 18, 34], whose membrane represented the first observation of marked selectivity for a particular type of ion, here the hydrogen ion. It is interesting that this first ion-selective electrode remains the best and most widely used of all such electrodes. 

The search for models of biological membranes among porous membranes continued in the twenties and thirties. Here, Michaelis [67] and Sollner (for a summary of his work, see [90] for development in the field, [89]) should be mentioned. The existence and characteristics of Donnan membrane equilibria could be confirmed using this type of membrane [20]. The theory of porous membranes with fixed charges of a certain sign was developed by Teorell [93], and Meyer and Sievers [65]. 

L. C. Clark first suggested in 1956 that the test solution be separated from an amperometric oxygen sensor by a hydrophobic porous membrane, permeable only for gases (for a review of the Clark electrode see [88]). The first potentiometric sensor of this type was the Severinghaus CO2 electrode [150], with a glass electrode placed in a dilute solution of sodium hydrogenocarbonate as the internal sensor (see fig. 4.10). As an equilibrium pressure of CO2, corresponding to the CO2 concentration in the test solution, is established in the... 

Contacting ozone gas with water can be achieved with every kind of gas diffuser, which is made of a material resistant to ozone. Ring pipes, porous diffusers and porous membranes, injector nozzles as well as static mixers can be employed. The different types of diffusers are mainly characterized by the diameter of the bubbles produced, e. g. micro (dB = 0.01 — 0.2 mm), small (dB 1.0 mm) or big (dB - 2.5 mm) bubbles (Calderbank, 1970 Hughmark, 1967). 

Cross-section structure. An anisotropic membrane (also called asymmetric ) has a thin porous or nonporous selective barrier, supported mechanically by a much thicker porous substructure. This type of morphology reduces the effective thickness of the selective barrier, and the permeate flux can be enhanced without changes in selectivity. Isotropic ( symmetric ) membrane cross-sections can be found for self-supported nonporous membranes (mainly ion-exchange) and macroporous microfiltration (MF) membranes (also often used in membrane contactors [1]). The only example for an established isotropic porous membrane for molecular separations is the case of track-etched polymer films with pore diameters down to about 10 run. All the above-mentioned membranes can in principle be made from one material. In contrast to such an integrally anisotropic membrane (homogeneous with respect to composition), a thin-film composite (TFC) membrane consists of different materials for the thin selective barrier layer and the support structure. In composite membranes in general, a combination of two (or more) materials with different characteristics is used with the aim to achieve synergetic properties. Other examples besides thin-film are pore-filled or pore surface-coated composite membranes or mixed-matrix membranes [3]. 

Usually, rather than using a hydrogen gas electrode, a glass membrane electrode is used for the measurement. As discussed in Sec. 8, the potential across such a membrane can be proportional to the difference in pH s of the solutions on each side of the membrane. One design for a membrane-type pH electrode, which incorporates a Ag/AgCl reference electrode in a tube concentric to the membrane electrode, is shown in Fig. 6. The electrode is immersed in the solution whose pH is to be measured, with the solution level above the porous plug. 

Two membrane types that operate on different principles have been used in commercially available membrane separators microporous membranes and selectively permeable, nonporous polyimide or Nafion membranes. The micro-porous Teflon PTFE membrane can be used to remove water vapor or organic solvent vapor. Any gaseous component, including volatile analytes such as Hg, is partially or extensively removed. The sweep gas flow rate is typically similar to the sample carrier gas flow rate. 

Modeling studies have also considered other aspects of CMRs. Sun and Khang [46] compared two types of CMRs, one with an inert (only separative) porous membrane associated with a fixed-bed catalyst, the other with the catalyst deposited within the porous framework of the membrane (thus leading to a catalytic membrane). For long contact times, the performance of the catalytic membrane is higher, due to the simultaneity of reaction and separation. 

The MCFC membrane electrode assembly (MEA) comprises three layers a porous lithiated NiO cathode structure and a porous Ni/NiCr alloy anode structure, sandwiching an electrolyte matrix (see detail below). To a first approximation, the porous, p-type semiconductor, nickel oxide cathode structure is compatible with the air oxidant, and a good enough electrical conductor. The nickel anode structure, coated with a granular proprietary reform reaction catalyst, is compatible with natural gas fuel and reforming steam, and is an excellent electrical conductor. As usual, the oxygen is the actual cathode and the fuel the anode. Hence the phrase porous electrode structure . 

In the characterization of porous membranes by liquid or gaseous permeation methods, the interpretation of data by the hyperbolic model can be of interest even if the parabolic model is accepted to yield excellent results for the estimation of the diffusion coefficients in most experiments. This type of model is currently applied for the time-lag method, which is mostly used to estimate the diffusion coefficients of dense polymer membranes in this case, the porosity definition can be compared to an equivalent free volume of the polymer [4.88, 4.89]. 

Membranes can be divided into two categories according to their structural characteristics which can have significant impacts on their performance as separators and/or reactors (membrane reactors or membrane catalysts) dense and porous membranes. Dense membranes are free of discrete, well-defined pores or voids. The difference between the two types can be conveniently detected by the presence of any pore structure under electron microscopy. The effectiveness of a dense membrane strongly depends on its material, the species to be separated and their interactions with the membrane. 

Figure 1.2 Cross-sectional schematic diagrams of various types of porous membranes...

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