Study of ultrafiltration membrane made from polyvinyl chloride/polyacrylonitrile blend

A novel ultrafiltration (UF) membrane made from polyvinyl chloride/polyacry lonitrile (PVC/PAN) was developed. The two polymers were found to be compat ible in the presence of a mechanochemically initiated copolymer P(VC-co-AN) , yielding homogeneous alloys when properly prepared. The influences of com patibility of compositions, as well as the molecular weight (MW) and molecu lar weight distribution (MWD), of PVC on the properties and structure of UF membranes were studied in detail. Results show that the effect of compatib ility of the PVC/PAN blend on the properties of membranes mainly depends on its influence on the size of the aperture of surface faces of the UF membr anes. To obtain a membrane with good integration properties, the matrix mus t have good compatibility, and PVC must have optimum MW and MWD.