0000000000213235
AUTHOR
Claudia Barth
Quick and reliable routes to phase diagrams for polyethersulfone and polysulfone membrane formation
Phase diagrams were measured and calculated for the ternary membrane forming systems DMF/water/polysulfone and DMF/water/polyethersulfone at different temperatures. Customary experiments yielded cloud point curves, tie lines, and critical compositions. The theoretical computation starts from the Flory-Huggins theory and employs binary interaction parameters g ij that vary with the composition. This information was mainly obtained by means of Headspace-Gas Chromatography (HSGC, yielding the partial pressures of the volatile components); these data were complemented by light scattering and swelling experiments. The calculation of binodals, spinodals, tie lines, and critical points avoids the …
Evidence of ternary interaction parameters for polymer solutions in mixed solvents from headspace-gas chromatography
Partial vapor pressures of the volatiles have been measured for four solvent/precipitant/polymer systems at different temperatures. The high molecular weight compounds were polysulfone or polyethersulfone and the mixed solvent was either DMF/acetone or DMF/water. Systems containing the very powerful precipitant water exhibit a special phenomenon: Upon the addition of polymer to a mixed solvent of constant composition the partial vapor pressure of water increases by a factor of more than two before it falls to zero as the volume fraction of the polymer approaches unity. This particular situation cannot be modeled using binary interaction parameters only, in contrast to the results obtained w…
Asymmetric polysulfone and polyethersulfone membranes: effects of thermodynamic conditions during formation on their performance
Abstract Membranes of polysulfone (PSU) and polyethersulfone (PES) were prepared from ternary and quaternary mixtures containing N , N -dimethylformamide (DMF) as solvent, water as non-solvent, and acetone (AC) as additive. The conditions for phase inversion and the desired phase separation mechanisms were selected on the basis of the phase behavior determined for the solvent/non-solvent/polymer systems. The influences of the composition of the casting solution, of the support, and of film thickness on structure and permeation properties of the membranes were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) plus flux and separation experiments. The mechanisms of phase inversion that should pr…
Preferential evaporation of precipitants from polymer solutions in mixed solvents
Partial vapor pressures were measured for the volatiles of solutions of polysulfone or polyethersulfone in mixtures of N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF, solvent) and water or acetone (precipitants) by means of headspace gas chromatography. The results demonstrate that the enrichment of water in the gas phase increases exponentially with rising polymer concentration, in contrast to that of acetone which remains constant. The reinforced expulsion of water resulting from the presence of polymers is theoretically conceivable and should be useful in the field of separation techniques.