Thin permeable separation

The third transport coefficient that we address is the diffusion coefficient. The simplest case is diffusion of a dilute species (solute) into another fluid (solvent) that is present in great excess. Consider the experiment shown schematically in Fig 12.3. In the bottom portion is a large well-mixed reservoir containing a mixture of solute held at fixed concentration c = C in a solvent. The top portion is a similar well-mixed reservoir of the mixture with solute concentration held fixed at c = C + AC. A permeable thin film separates each reservoir from the center fluid mixture. As such, in the center fluid region the concentrations of solute at the upper and lower edges equal the concentrations just across the permeable films that is, they equal the reservoir concentrations. 

The membrane is a compromise of properties the requirement for low internal resistance suggests that the membrane be porous and thin good separation dictates that the membrane be of low permeability and high fixed charge concentration and adequate physical strength requires that it be sufficiently thick. At any rate, membranes can generally be tailor-made, so that their properties can be adjusted to yield optimal cell performance and cell life. ... 

But the fact that the concentrations of sodium and potassium are different either side of the cell membrane results in certain peculiarities despite this overall electrical neutrality. For, in a non-living system, we would expect that if we separated a solution of potassium chloride from one of sodium chloride by a thin, permeable membrane - say a cellophane sheet - potassium ions... 

To study these phenomena, one measures the hydrogen permeability of a metal as a function of chosen variables using a two-compartment electrochemical cell schematically shown in Figure 11.30. The working electrode, in the form of a thin sheet, separates the two electrolyte compartments. In the cell s left-hand compartment, the electrode acts as a cathode. When a small, constant current is applied, the protons are reduced to hydrogen. A fraction of this hydrogen dissolves in the metal and diffuses across the thin sheet. 

One important application of amperometry is in the construction of chemical sensors. One of the first amperometric sensors to be developed was for dissolved O2 in blood, which was developed in 1956 by L. C. Clark. The design of the amperometric sensor is shown in Figure 11.38 and is similar to potentiometric membrane electrodes. A gas-permeable membrane is stretched across the end of the sensor and is separated from the working and counter electrodes by a thin solution of KCl. The working electrode is a Pt disk cathode, and an Ag ring anode is the... 

Commercial porous ceramic tubes (SCT /US Filter Membralox Tl-70 [7]) were used in this study as support for the zeolite material. They are made (Figure 1) of three consecutive layers of tnacroporous a-Al203 with average pore sizes decreasing from the external to the internal layer. A thin toplayer made of mesoporous y-Al203 was also present in some samples. For gas permeability, gas separation and catalytic measurements the tubes were first sealed at both ends with an enamel layer before zeolite synthesis. Tubes with porous lengths up to 20 cm were used in this study. 

Membrane reactors are known on the macro scale for combining reaction and separation, with additional profits for the whole process as compared with the same separate functions. Microstructured reactors with permeable membranes are used in the same way, e.g. to increase conversion above the equilibrium limit of sole reaction [8, 10, 11, 83]. One way to achieve this is by preparing thin membranes over the pores of a mesh, e.g. by thin-fihn deposition techniques, separating reactant and product streams [11]. 

A special case of interfaces between electrolytes are those involving membranes. A membrane is a thin, ion-conducting interlayer (most often solid but sometimes also a solution in an immiscible electrolyte) separating two similar liquid phases and exhibiting selectivity (Fig. 5.1). Nonselective interlayers, interlayers uniformly permeable for all components, are called diaphragms. Completely selective membranes (i.e., membranes that are permeable for some and impermeable for other substances) are called permselective membranes. 

Button cells consist of cathode and anode cans (used as the terminals), powdered zinc anode, containing gelled electrolyte and the corrosion inhibitor, separator with electrolyte, thin (0.5 mm) carbon cathode with catalyst and PTFE, waterproof gas-permeable (teflon) layer and air distribution layer for the even air assess over the cathode surface. Parameters of battery depend on the air transfer rate, which is determined by quantity and diameters of air access holes or porosity of the gas-diffusion membrane. Air-zinc batteries at low rate (J=0,002-0,01C at the idle drain and J= 0,02-0,04C at the peak continuous current) have flat discharge curves (typical curve is shown by Figure 1). 

The schematic diagram of a gas-sensing electrode is illustrated in Figure 16.8, that comprises of essentially a reference electrode (E), a specific-ion electrode (B), and an internal electrolyte solution (F) contained in a cylindrical plastic tube (G). One end of the plastic tubing is provided with a thin, replaceable, gas-permeable membrane that separates the internal electrolyte solution from the external solution containing gaseous analyte. However, the exact composition and specifications of this gas-permeable membrane is usually described by its respective manufacturers. It is normally made up of a thin microporous film fabricated from a hydrophobic plastic material. 

The technique consists of a microdialysis probe, a thin hollow tube made of a semi-permeable membrane usually around 200-500 /xm in diameter, which is implanted into the skin and perfused with a receiver solution that recovers the unbound permeant from the local area. In principle, the driving force of dialysis is the concentration gradient existing between two compartments separated by a semi-permeable membrane. For skin under in vivo conditions, these compartments represent the dermal or subcutaneous extracellular fluid (depending on the probe position) and an artificial physiological solution inside the probe [36-38],... 

Finally the synthesis of inorganic-polymer composite membranes should be mentioned. Several attempts have been made to combine the high permeability of inorganic membranes with the good selectivity of polymer membranes. Furneaux and Davidson (1987) coated a anodized alumina with polymer films. The permeability increased by a factor of 100, as compared to that in the polymer fiber, but the selectivities were low (H2/O2 = 4). Ansorge (1985) made a supported polymer film and coated this film with a thin silica layer. Surprisingly, the silica layer was found to be selective for the separation mixture He-CH4 with a separation factor of 5 towards CH4. The function of the polymer film is only to increase the permeability. No further data are given. 

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