Characterization of UF Membranes Membrane Characteristics and Characterization Techniques

The field of membrane filtration is currently enjoying a great deal of interest and its field of application is expanding rapidly. Since membrane separations are possible at moderate process conditions the application of membrane filtration in food industry and biotechnology is growing very fast [ 11. Furthermore, the possibility to perform separations at low energy costs makes membrane filtration competitive with classical separation techniques. Although the performances of the current membrane systems are sometimes quite satisfying, the fundamentals of membrane separation actions, irrespective whether it concerns gas separation or microfiltration membranes, are not very well understood yet. One of the reasons for this apparent contradiction is that the physical and chemical nature of the applied membranes is intricate, whereas the relation between the membrane structure and the actual performance, i.e., the transport mechanism, is very complex [l-3]. It is recognized nowadays that these problems can only be overcome when the relevant data, describing the membrane structure and transport properties, are known accurately. These parameters can only be found when different characterization techniques are combined. In this paper a number of techniques which are used for the characterization of porous membranes are reviewed. Although the present survey is not entirely complete, it certainly covers the techniques which are sufficiently developed to be exploited with some success [3].