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Grafted polypropylene membranes for purification of water containing sodium alkylbenzenesulfonate
Author(s) -
Pegoraro Mario,
Penati Amabile,
Pizzamiglio Alessandro
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.1974.070180206
Subject(s) - membrane , ultrafiltration (renal) , reverse osmosis , sodium , osmotic pressure , chromatography , polypropylene , chemical engineering , chemistry , flux (metallurgy) , micelle , materials science , aqueous solution , organic chemistry , biochemistry , engineering
The possibility of eliminating sodium alkylbenzenesulfonate (ABS) from water by reverse osmosis was examined by operating with polypropylene membranes grafted with poly(acrylic acid). Flux through the membranes decreases with increasing thickness. For 23μ thickness and 0.5 1./hr‐m 2 flux, the rejection is 100% (operating pressure, 50 atm: concentration, 1 g ABS/l.). For 5μ thickness the rejection is lower and is related to ABS concentration: rejection increases with increasing concentration and reaches 60% for concentrations higher than 5 g ABS/l. (flux, 51./hr‐m 2 ; operating pressure, 50 atm). This is ascribed to the prevailing ultrafiltration as regards the reverse osmosis. ABS, at higher concentrations than the critical value, gives micelles whose dimensions might be compared to pores. The membrane behavior is influenced by previous treatments; when the membrane has been conditioned in NaCl solution, it is more selective and more permeable; the rejection reaches 90% with fluxes of 6.8 l./hr‐m 2 for concentrations of 5 g ABS/1. (operating pressure, 50 atm). In order to relate the properties to the structure of membranes, we have examined them by electron microscope. The ion exchange which takes place between membrane and NaCl and between membrane and ABS has also been studied.