ELECTROKINETIC CHARACTERIZATION OF A MICROPOROUS NONCOMMERCIAL POLYSULFONE MEMBRANE - PHENOMENOLOGICAL COEFFICIENTS AND TRANSPORT PARAMETERS

Electrical and electrokinetic phenomena (electrical resistance, stream ing potential and membrane potential) in a porous polysulfone membrane was studied in the framework. of the linear thermodynamics of irrever sible processes and the phenomenological coefficients were determined for different concentrations of NaCl and MgCl2 solutions (10(-3) M < 5 x 10(-2) M). From experimental values, other characteristic membrane parameters such as the concentration of fixed charge in the membrane ( <X> = -3 x 10(-3) M), the ionic transport numbers and permeabilities t hrough the membrane (t(Na+) = 0.392 and t(Mg+2) = 0.363; P(Na+) = 3.5 x 10(-8) m/sec and P(Mg+2) = 2.9 x 10(-8) m/sec) were also obtained. M embrane surface-electrolyte solution interface was characterized by ze ta potential values. The effect of both salt concentration and pH on z eta potential results was also studied. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.