Porous conducting membranes based on polypyrrole-PMMA composites

A series of porous membranes consisting of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) a nd polypyrrole (PPy) were prepared using porogen leaching techniques. The l iquid porogen used was polypropylene glycol, molecular weight 775 (PPG-775) while sodium chloride powder was used as the solid porogen. The pore struc ture of the asymmetrical membranes was characterised using scanning electro n microscopy (SEM) which demonstrated pore sizes ranging from 2 to 100 mu m The permeability of the membranes was characterised with either lysozyme ( molecular weight = 14,000) or bovine serum albumin (BSA, molecular weight = 67,000). The membranes prepared with sodium chloride demonstrated little r esistance to the passage of water or albumin while the membranes prepared w ith PPG-774 had limited permeability to lysozyme. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.