Preparation of gelatin formed-in-place membranes: effect of working conditions and substrates

Preparation of low ultra-filtration membranes, by cross-flow filtration of a protein solution on an a-alumina macroporous ceramic support (0.2 mu m SC T membrane) and further tanning/drying treatments, has been improved. The n ew operational procedure cut the total manufacturing duration from 5 h acco rding to previous authors down to only a couple of hours. A study of the ef fect of the protein/tanning agent couple shows that the best performance is obtained with membranes built from proteins having a large molecular weigh t distribution and then tanned with formaldehyde solution. The optimal conc entration of the cross-linking agent depends on the kind of protein used. ( C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.