Supported Liquid Membrane Subject

As described above, the ion transfer through a membrane is controlled practically by the complementary ion transfer reactions at two W/M interfaces when the M contained sufficient electrolytes. This idea was successfully applied to explanations of the following subjects concerning with membrane phenomena [20,21,26]. (1) Influence of ion transfer reaction at one W/M interface on that at another W/M interface under an applied membrane potential (2) Ion transfers through an M in the presence of the objective ion in Wl, M and/or W2 (3) Ion separation by electrolysis under an applied membrane potential (4) Ion transfer through a thin supported liquid membrane. The idea was also demonstrated to be very useful for the elucidation of ion or electron transport process through a bilayer lipid membrane (BLM), which is much thinner than a liquid membrane [21,26]. 

The basic liquid membrane consists of some liquid ion-exchange resin which is restrained by an inert support. It suffers from several faults. The liquid-liquid interface is poorly defined and is subject to stirring effects and pressure differentials. It is mechanically fragile which can lead to mutual contamination of the two liquid phases. 

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