ORGANIC PERMSELECTIVE PERVAPORATION CHARACTERISTICS OF POLY(SILYLPROPYNE) AND COPOLYMER DENSE MEMBRANES

An investigation into the organic permselective separation through poly [1-trimethylsilyl-1-propyne] (PTMSP) and (1-trimethylsily 1)-1-(1-penta-methyl-disily 1)-1-propyne copolymer (TMSP-PMDSP) dense membranes was made to gain an insight into the effect of the chemical structure of membrane materials on pervaporation (PV) characteristics. The results show that the copolymer has a higher separation factor alpha(org/water) but with a relatively lower value of flux J(t) (g/m(2).h) than pure PTMSP. This phenomenon may be attributed to the introduction of side chain with large bulk volume in copolymer, which brought about a decrease of excess free volume and the improvement of diffusion selectivity to some extent. With the same molar concentration of organic liquids in feed, THF/water solutions have the highest value of alpha(org/water) as well as J(t) in comparison with ethanol/water, iso-propanol/water and THF/water mixtures.

Survival of encapsulated islets: More than a membrane story

At present, proven clinical treatments but no cures are available for diabetes, a global epidemic with a huge economic burden. Transplantation of islets ofLangerhans by their infusion into vascularized organs is an experimental clinical protocol, the first approach to attain cure. However, it is associated with lifelong use of immunosuppressants. To overcome the need for immunosuppression, islets are encapsulated and separated from the host immune system by a permselective membrane. The lead material for this application is alginate which was tested in many animal models and a few clinical trials. This review discusses all aspects related to the function of transplanted encapsulated islets such as the basic requirements from a permselective membrane(e.g., allowable hydrodynamic radii, implications of the thickness of the membrane and relative electrical charge). Another aspect involves adequate oxygen supply, which is essential for survival/performance of transplanted islets, especially when using large retrievable macrocapsules implanted in poorly oxygenated sites like the subcutis. Notably, islets can survive under low oxygen tension and are physiologically active at > 40 Torr. Surprisingly, when densely crowded, islets are fully functional under hyperoxic pressure of up to 500 Torr(> 300% of atmospheric oxygen tension). The review also addresses an additional category of requirements for optimal performance of transplanted islets, named auxiliary technologies. These include control of inflammation, apoptosis, angiogenesis, and the intra-capsular environment. The review highlights that curing diabetes with a functional bio-artificial pancreas requires optimizing all of these aspects, and that significant advances have already been made in many of them.

Study on the permselectivity of ion exchange membrane

Ion exchange membranes with high permselectivity (the character of separatingcations from anions or anions from cations) and high selectivity (the character of separatingcations or anions of different valencies) are important for electrodialysis process. The Donnanequilibrium theory, based on the equilibrium of ions and no electric field, can not exactly explainthe permselectivity of ion exchange membrane for ED process, since it is impossible to set up a ionexchange equilibrium between membrane and solution and to neglect the influence of electricaldriving force on ions during ED process. A novel model named 'anti-electric potential' isestablished to interpret the permselectivity of ion exchange membrane, according to thedetermination of electric potential between membranes and the variation of elements content insolutions and membranes. The results of experiment prove that the 'anti-electric potential' reallyexists within membranes. As for the selectivity, the results reveal that electric potential andhydration energy have great influence on the concentration and mobility of ions in membranes.

THE GAS TRANSPORT BEHAVIOR IN AROMATIC POLYESTER MEMBRANES

Six aromatic polyesters were prepared for gas separation membranes, and their permeation properties for hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and methane were measured at 30 degrees C and 1 atmosphere by low pressure manometric method. The correlation between the gas transport behavior and molecular structure of aromatic polyester membrane is discussed. These data are interpreted qualitatively in terms of the calculated packing density, gas-polymer interaction, concentration of aryl bromine on backbone, and effect of silane group on main chain of polymer.

Permselectivity of 4－Aminophenol，Paracetanol and Phenacetin on the Self－Assembled n－Alkanethiol Monolayer Modified Gold Electrode

The gold electrodes coated by n-alkanethiol with various chain lengths were used to study the permeability of uric acid,ascorbic acid,4-aminophenol,paracetanol and phenacetin by means of linear sweep voltammetry.The results show that the optimum chain length is n=10.The improvements in the selectivity and the stability of the amperometric detection of these compounds in a flow stream were obtained by n-alkanethiol self assembled monolayers modified electrodes based on their differences in the hydrophobicity and the permeability.

Solid-liquid-core optical fiber biosensor for highly sensitive and selective detection of 4-chlorophenol in water

A novel solid-liquid-core fiber-optic biosensor was fabricated for highly sensitive and selective detection of 4-chlorophenol in water.The sensor comprised horseradish peroxidase(HRP)-coated U-shaped liquidcore optical fiber(LCOF)and 4-chlorophenol permselective polymer membrane.The U-shaped LCOF was flled with ethanol suspension of SiO_(2)particles and the polymer membrane was composed of molecularly imprinted polymer,sulfonated polyethersulfone,and polysulfone.The morphology,composition,and surface luminous properties of the sensing region were examined.The effects of the diameter and content of SiO_(2)particles and temperature of 4-chlorophenol solutions on the sensitivity of the biosensors were investigated.Further,the sensitivity,selectivity,response time,and limit of detection(LOD)of the biosensors was investigated.In addition,the effects of fiber core materials on the light transmission in sensing region were investigated and a biosensor sensing model was established.The proposed sensor exhibited high selectivity for 4-chlorophenol with satisfactory sensitivity,LOD,and response time:-1.18(μg/L)^(-1),30μg/L,and 400 s,respectively.The results are expected to aid in the development of methods for enhancing sensitivity of fiber-optic sensors and surface luminous intensity of optical fibers.