Ultrafiltration characterization

Surface active electrolytes produce charged micelles whose effective charge can be measured by electrophoretic mobility [117,156]. The net charge is lower than the degree of aggregation, however, since some of the counterions remain associated with the micelle, presumably as part of a Stem layer (see Section V-3) [157]. Combination of self-diffusion with electrophoretic mobility measurements indicates that a typical micelle of a univalent surfactant contains about 1(X) monomer units and carries a net charge of 50-70. Additional colloidal characterization techniques are applicable to micelles such as ultrafiltration [158]. 

Membrane Characterization The two important characteristics of a UF membrane are its permeability and its retention characteristics. Ultrafiltration membranes contain pores too small to be tested by bubble point. Direc t microscopic observation of the surface is difficult and unreliable. The pores, especially the smaller ones, usually close when samples are dried for the electron microscope. Critical-point drying of a membrane (replacing the water with a flmd which can be removed at its critical point) is utihzed even though this procedure has complications of its own it has been used to produce a Few good pictures. 

Ultrafiltration utilizes membrane filters with small pore sizes ranging from O.OlS t to in order to collect small particles, to separate small particle sizes, or to obtain particle-free solutions for a variety of applications. Membrane filters are characterized by a smallness and uniformity of pore size difficult to achieve with cellulosic filters. They are further characterized by thinness, strength, flexibility, low absorption and adsorption, and a flat surface texture. These properties are useful for a variety of analytical procedures. In the analytical laboratory, ultrafiltration is especially useful for gravimetric analysis, optical microscopy, and X-ray fluorescence studies. 

Subsequently, a clear Juice is obtained by ultrafiltration. A serious problem in this process is the fouling of the ultrafiltration membrane, causing a reduced flux rate. For apple processing, the material responsible for this effect has been isolated and extensively characterized [2-4]. It appeared to consist mainly of ramified pectic hairy regions (MHR), which were not degraded by the pectolytic enzymes present in the technical pectinase preparation. 

Municipal landfill leachate typically contains dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations up to several thousand (typically >1700 ppm), even in a landfill that is decades old (Christensen et al. 1998). More than 200 organic compounds have been identified in municipal landfill leachate (Paxe us 2000). Therefore, an effective chemical characterization of landfill leachate by numerous analytical techniques requires a previous isolation procedure in order to remove possible interferences. In our previous study, we tested the advantage of the ultrafiltration... 

Larbot, A., J. A. Alary, C. Guizard, L. Cot and J. Gillot. 1987. New inorganic ultrafiltration membranes Preparation and characterization. Int. J. High Technology Ceramics 3 145-51. 

Terpstra, R. A., B. C. Bonekamp and H. J. Veringa. 1988. Preparation, characterization and some properties of tubular alpha alumina ceramic membranes for microfiltration and as a support for ultrafiltration and gas separation membranes. Desalination 70 395-404. 

Leenaars, A. F. M. and A. J. Burggraaf. 1985b. The preparation and characterization of alumina membranes with ultrafine pores. Part 4. Ultrafiltration and hyperfiltration experiments. J. Membrane Sci. 24 261-70. 

Nystrom, M., M. Lindstrom and E. Matthiasson. 1989. Streaming potential as a tool in the characterization of ultrafiltration membranes. Colloids di Surfaces 36 297-312. 

To aid in the characterization of the DOM pool, marine organic chemists have developed techniques fiar separating compounds into size fractions. Tangential flow ultrafiltration is used to isolate a high-molecular-weight (HMW) fraction from a low-molecular-weight (LMW) fraction. The size cutoff between these is approximately 1 tun, which equates... 

R. B. Ultrafiltration tandem mass spectrometry of estrogens for characterization of structure and affinity for human estrogen receptors. J. Am. Soc. Mass Spectrom. 2005, 16, 271-279. 

Ultrafiltration separates macromolecules in the molecular weight range from 1000 to about 100,000. The membranes used are characterized by a nominal molecular weight... 

Because the application of NMR spectroscopy to environmental samples is relatively new, we focused our studies on the identification and characterization of DOP by 31P FT-NMR spectroscopy. Ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis concentration techniques were employed to increase the dissolved organic phosphorus concentrations to the detection level of 31P FT-NMR techniques (approximately 10-20 mg of P/L). With these concentration methods a DOP concentration factor of up to 2000 is obtainable. This chapter reports the use of 31P FT-NMR spectroscopy in the analysis of DOP. In... 

Because NMR spectroscopy is a nuclei-specific technique and has the ability to distinguish between similar compounds, it is an excellent method for identifying similar species in complex matrices. Thus, 31P FT-NMR spectroscopy is ideal for the identification and characterization of the hydrosphere DOP. Even so, NMR spectroscopy is fairly insensitive and requires high sample concentrations. Low DOP concentrations are increased to 31P FT-NMR detection limits by using ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis membranes. Not only is the DOP concentrated, but it is fractionated according to its molecular size. Compared to other concentration and molecular size fractionation techniques for DOP, ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis are relatively rapid and easy. 

The most important property characterizing a microporous membrane is the pore diameter (d). Some of the methods of measuring pore diameters are described in Chapter 7. Although microporous membranes are usually characterized by a single pore diameter value, most membranes actually contain a range of pore sizes. In ultrafiltration, the pore diameter quoted is usually an average value, but to confuse the issue, the pore diameter in microfiltration is usually defined in terms of the largest particle able to penetrate the membrane. This nominal pore diameter can be 5 to 10 times smaller than the apparent pore diameter based on direct microscopic examination of the membrane. 

Table 2.5 Marker molecules used to characterize ultrafiltration membranes...

A.R. Da Costa, A.G. Fane and D.E. Wiley, Spacer Characterization and Pressure Drop Modeling in Spacer-filled Channels for Ultrafiltration, J. Membr. Sci. 87, 79 (1994). 

Relatively few biochemicals can be measured directly in natural waters because concentrations of individual compounds are low (nanomolar) and salts and other components often interfere with these analyses. DOM can be concentrated and isolated from natural waters for more thorough chemical characterization, and two approaches for DOM isolation, adsorption onto solid phases and ultrafiltration are now widely used. The adsorption of DOM onto XAD resins is used to isolate a fraction of DOM that is operationally defined as humic substances (Thurman, 1985). More recently, tangential-flow ultrafiltration with 1000 Da cutoff membranes has been used to isolate the high-molecular-weight or colloidal fraction of DOM (Benner et al., 1992, 1997). 

Humic substances account for 40-70% of the DOC in rivers and 5-25% of the DOC in the ocean (Table I). It is important to note that recoveries of adsorbed humic substances from XAD resins are not quantitative, so the chemical characteristics of the recovered humic substances are not necessarily representative of all the humic substances retained by the resin. Tangential-flow ultrafiltration retains 45-80% of the DOC in rivers and 25-40% of the DOC in the surface ocean (Table I). Essentially all of the DOC retained during ultrafiltration is recovered for chemical characterization. In general, ultrafiltration recovers a larger fraction of the DOM from these systems. These methods also isolate DOM based on different mechanisms. Adsorption onto XAD resins at low pH chemically fractionates the DOM and isolates the more hydrophobic components, whereas ultrafiltration principally separates components of DOM on the basis of size and shape. 

Bolea, E., Bouby, M., Laborda, F., Castillo, J. R., and Geckeis, H. (2006). Multielement characterization of metal-humic substances complexation by size exclusion chromatography, asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation, ultrafiltration and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry detection A comparative approach. J. Chromatogr. A 1129, 236-246. 

After several decades of research, fundamental aspects of the chemical composition and structure of marine organic matter remain elusive. Advances in the chemical characterization of marine organic matter are, in large part, dependent on the development of quantitative methods for its concentration and isolation from seawater. Each of the major methods currently used for the isolation of marine DOM recovers around one-third of the DOM in seawater (solid-phase extractions, using XAD resins or C18 adsorbents, and ultrafiltration). A coupled reverse osmosis-electrodi-alysis method has recently been used to recover an average of 75% 12% of marine DOM from 16 seawater samples however, the method has emerged too recently to have been well tested at this time. 

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