POLYACRYLONITRILE-REINFORCED POLY(VINYL ALCOHOL) MEMBRANES - MECHANICAL AND DIALYSIS PERFORMANCE

Membranes used for hemodialysis should have good mechanical strength t o withstand the maximum transmembrane pressure. Although crosslinked p oly(vinyl alcohol) membrane has superior permeability to solutes, its wet breaking strength is low. Mechanical strength, dry and wet, of mem branes made from crosslinked blendmers of poly(vinyl alcohol) and poly acrylonitrile was investigated. The possibilities of these membranes f or the application as dialysis membranes were evaluated by estimating its solute permeabilities. The optimum membrane selected shows permeab ility and mechanical properties comparable with the commercial regener ated cellulose membrane. Polyelectrolyte grafting made the membrane mo re blood-compatible. (C) 1995 John Wiley and Sons, Inc.