REVERSIBLE REARRANGEMENTS IN THE STRUCTURE OF POLYMER MEMBRANES INITIATED BY ADSORBING BINARY LIQUIDS .1. EXPERIMENT, MECHANISM, AND GENERAL-APPROACH TO THE MATHEMATICAL-DESCRIPTION

It has been established that vaporization of binary solutions of low-m olecular surfactants through asymmetric polymer membranes causes prono unced auto-oscillations of the permeability and selectivity of the mem branes. This effect is accounted for by the periodic formation and col lapse of micropores in the active layer of membranes; the correspondin g mechanism is proposed The validity of the physical pattern suggested is proved experimentally. A general approach to the mathematical desc ription of substance transfer through structurally unstable solids is developed, which suggests some characteristic features of the differen tial equations that describe the process.