Effects of Additives and Coagulant Temperature on Fabrication of High Performance PVDF/Pluronic F127 Blend Hollow Fiber Membranes via Nonsolvent Induced Phase Separation

Poly（vinylidene fluoride） （PVDF） has become one of the most popular materials for membrane preparation via nonsolvent induced phase separation （NIPS） process. In this study, an amphiphilic block copolymer, Pluronic F127, has been used as both a pore-former and a surface-modifier in the fabrication of PVDF hollow fibermembranes to enhance the membrane permeability and hydrophilicity. The effects of 2nd additive and coagulant temperature on the formation of PVDF/Pluronic F 127 membranes have also been investigated. The as-spun hollow fibers were characterized in terms of cross-sectional morphology, pure water permeation （PWP）, relative molecular mass cut-off （MWCO）, membrane chemistry, and hydrolphilicity. It was obsered that the addition of Pluronic F 127 significantly increased the PWP of as-spun fibers, while the membrane contact angle was reduced. However, the size of macrovoids in the membranes was undesirably large. The addition of a 2nd additive, including lithium chloride （LiC1） and water, or an increase in coagulant temperature was found to effectively suppress the macrovoid for- mation in the Pluronic-containing membranes. In addition, the use of LiC1 as a 2nd additive also further enhanced the PWP and hydrophilicity of the membranes, while the surface pore size became smaller. PVDF hollow fiber with a PWP as high as 2330 L·m-2·h-1·MPa-1, a MWCO of 53000 and＇a contact angle of 71 o was successfully fabricated with 3% （by mass） of Pluronic F127 and 3% （by mass） of LiC1 at a coagulant temperature of 25 ℃, which shows better performance as compared with most of PVDF hollow fiber membranes made by NIPS method.

Effects of the original state of sodium-based additives on microstructure,surface characteristics and filtration performance of SiC membranes

Sodium-contained compounds are promising sintering additives for the low-temperature preparation of reaction bonded SiC membranes.Although sodium-based sintering additives in various original states were attempted,their effects on microstructure and surface properties have rarely been studied.In this work,three types of sodium-based additives,including solid-state NaA zeolite residue(NaA)and liquidstate dodecylbenzene sulfonate(SDBS)and water glass(WG),were separately adopted to prepare SiC membranes,and the microstructure,surface characteristics and filtration performance of these SiC membranes were comparatively studied.Results showed that the SiC membranes prepared with liquid-state SDBS and WG(S-SDBS and S-WG)showed lower open porosity yet higher bending strength compared to those prepared with solid-state NaA(S-NaA).The observed differences in bending strength were further interpreted by analyzing the reaction process of each sintering additive and the composition of the bonding phase in the reaction bonded SiC membranes.Meanwhile,the microstructural differentiation was correlated to the original state of the additives.In addition,their surface characteristics and filtration performance for oil-in-water emulsion were examined and correlated to the membrane microstructure.The S-NaA samples showed higher hydrophilicity,lower surface roughness(1.80μm)and higher rejection ratio(99.99%)in O/W emulsion separation than those of S-WG and S-SDBS.This can be attributed to the smaller mean pore size and higher open porosity,resulting from the originally solid-state NaA additives.Therefore,this work revealed the comprehensive effects of original state of sintering additives on the prepared SiC membranes,which could be helpful for the application-oriented fabrication by choosing additives in suitable state.

Effect of Soil Drought Stress on Leaf Water Status, Membrane Permeability and Enzymatic Antioxidant System of Maize

A simulation experiment on the responses of maize (Zea mays L.) from the third leaf stage to maturity for different soil water levels (well-watered, moderately stressed, and severely stressed) was conducted by controlling irrigation and using a mobile rain shelter in a neutral loam, meadow soil to determine the effects on leaf water status, membrane permeability and enzymatic antioxidant system for different growth stages. The results indicated that drought stress relied on drought intensity and duration, with more severe drought stress creating more serious effects on maize. Compared with well-watered conditions, during the silking and blister stages moderate stress did not significantly change the relative water content (RWC) and did change significantly the relative conductivity (RC) (P < 0.05) of the leaves; however, severe stress did significantly decrease (P < 0.01) the leaf RWC and increase (P < 0.01) membrane permeability (leaf relative conductivity). Furthermore, under severe drought stress antioxidant enzyme activities declined significantly (P < 0.01) in later stages, namely for superoxide dismutase (SOD) the tasseling and blister stages, for peroxidase (POD) the milk stage, and for catalase (CAT) during the tasseling, blister, and milk stages. Meanwhile, membrane lipid peroxidation (measured as malondialdehyde content) significantly increased (P < 0.01) in all stages.

Matrine inhibits mycelia growth of Botryosphaeria dothidea by affecting membrane permeability

Matrine is a promising botanical antifungal;however, the mechanism underlying the antifungal activity is yet limited. We studied the antifungal activity of matrine and the underlying mechanism in Botryosphaeria dothidea as a model strain. Matrine strongly inhibited mycelial growth of B. dothidea in a dose-dependent manner. Matrine-treated B. dothidea showed morphological and ultrastructural alterations, including shriveled hyphae, plasmolysis, and leakage of cytoplasm related to cell membrane deterioration. In addition, matrine caused significantly high conductivity and absorbance (260 nm) in extracellular matrices and low lipid contents in B. dothidea, indicating increased membrane permeability. Lipid peroxidation showed that matrine resulted in increased malondialdehyde content while enhancing the generation of reactive oxygen species and the activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, and peroxidase. These results showed that matrine inhibited the mycelial growth of B. dothidea by enhancing cell membrane permeability via membrane lipid peroxidation.

Oxygen permeability and CO_2-tolerance of Ce_(0.8)Gd_(0.2)O_(2-δ)-Ln BaCo_2O_(5+δ) dual-phase membranes

A series of oxygen permeable dual-phase composite oxides 60 wt% Ce0.8Gd0.2O2-δ-40 wt% LnBaCo2O5＋δ （CGO-LBCO, Ln = La, Pr, Nd, Sin, Gd and Y） were synthesized through a sol-gel route and effects of the Ln3＋ cations on their phase structure, oxygen permeability and chemical stability against CO2 were investigated systemically by XRD, SEM, TG-DSC and oxygen permeation experiments. XRD patterns reveal that the larger Ln3＋ cations （La3＋, Pr3＋ and Nd3＋） successfully stabilized the double-layered perovskite structure of sintered LBCO, while the smaller ones （Sm3＋, Gd3＋, and Y3＋） resulted in the partial decomposition of LBCO with some impurities formed. CGO-PBCO yields the highest oxygen permeation flux, reaching 2.8× 10^-7 mol.s-1.cm-2 at 925 ℃ with 1 mm thickness under air/He gradient. The TG-DSC profiles in 20 mol% CO2/N2 and oxygen permeability experiments with CO2 as sweep gas show that CGO-YBCO demonstrates the best chemical stability against CO2, possibly due to its minimum basicity. The stable oxygen permeation flux of CGO-YBCO under CO2 atmosphere reveals its potential application in the oxy-fuel combustion route for CO2 capture.

Effect of Graft Yield on the Thermo-Responsive Permeability Through Porous Membranes with Plasma-Grafted Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)Gates

The effect of graft yield on both the thermo-responsive hydraulicpermeability and the therrno-responsive diffusional permeability through porous membranes withplasma-grafted poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) gates was investigated. Both thermo-responsiveflat membranes and core-shell microcapsule membranes with a wide range of graft yield of PNIPAM wereprepared using a plasma-graft pore-filling polymerization method. The grafted PNIPAM was formedhomogeneously throughout the entire thickness of both the flat polyethylene membranes and themicrocapsule polyamide membranes. Both the hydraulic permeability and the diffusional permeabilitywere heavily dependent on the PNIPAM graft yield. With increasing the graft yield, the hydraulicpermeability (water flux) decreases rapidly at 25℃ because of the decrease of the pore size;however, the water flux at 40℃ increases firstly to a peak because of the increase ofhydrophobicity of the pore surface, and then decreases and finally tends to zero because of the poresize becoming smaller and smaller. For the diffusional permeability, the temperature showsdifferent effects on the diffusional permeability coefficients of solutes across the membranes. Whenthe graft yield was low, the diffusional coefficient of solute across the membrane was higher attemperature above the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) than that below the LCST; however,when the graft yield was high, the diffusional coefficient was lower at temperature above the LCSTthan that below the LCST. It is very important to choose or design a proper graft yield of PNIPAMfor obtaining a desired thermo-responsive 'on/off' hydraulic or diffusional permeability.

Effects of exogenous Ca^(2+) on the membrane permeability, MDA and SH group content of Alexandrium sp. LC3 under surfactant stress

The effect of Ca 2+ on the removal of Alexandrium sp. LC3 under HDTMAB stress was investigated. The results showed that the toxic effect of HDTMAB on Alexandrium sp. LC3 was significantly reduced in the presence of Ca 2+, especially under 4 mmol/L of Ca 2+. To understand the underlying mechanism, the SH group and MDA content of the cell membrane and membrane permeability were measured. It was found that the SH content of cell member increased, the MDA content and membrane permeability decreased when Alexandrium sp. was treated with Ca 2+ and HDTMAB complex, compared with using HDTMAB only. The data suggested that Ca 2+ might promote HDTMAB stress resistance of Alexandrium sp. LC3 by reducing the permeability and increasing the stability of cell membrane.

A novel approach to regulate cell membrane permeability for ATP and NADH formation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae induced by air cold plasma

Air cold plasma has been used as a novel method for enhancing microbial fermentation. The aim of this work was to explore the effect of plasma on membrane permeability and the formation of ATP and NADH in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, so as to provide valuable information for largescale application of plasma in the fermentation industry. Suspensions of S. cerevisiae cells were exposed to air cold plasma for 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 min, and then subjected to various analyses prior to fermentation （Oh） and at the 9 and 21 h stages of fermentation. Compared with nonexposed cells, cells exposed to plasma for 1 min exhibited a marked increase in cytoplasmic free Ca2＋ concentration as a result of the significant increase in membrane potential prior to fermentation. At the same time, the ATP level in the cell suspension decreased by about 40%, resulting in a reduction of about 60% in NADH prior to culturing. However, the levels of ATP and NADH in the culture at the 9 and 21 h fermentation stages were different from the level at 0 h. Taken together, the results indicated that exposure of S. cerevisiae to air cold plasma could increase its cytoplasmic free Ca2＋ concentration by improving the cell membrane potential, consequently leading to changes in ATP and NADH levels.

Additional Mass: Orthotropic Membrane Material with Four Sides Fixed in Air Flow

When the membrane material in the air field vibrates, it will drive the movement of the surrounding air. The aerodynamic force generated by the moving air will act on the membrane material in turn, resulting in the change of dynamic characteristics such as membrane vibration frequency. In this paper, the additional air mass produced by membrane vibration in air is studied. Firstly, under the assumption that the incoming flow is uniform and incompressible ideal potential flow, the additional air mass acting on the surface is derived by using the thin airfoil theory and potential flow theory respectively. Then, according to the first law of thermodynamics and the principle of aeroelasticity, the analytical expression of the additional air mass is derived. Finally, through a specific example, the variation of the additional air mass with the membrane material parameters and pretension, as well as the influence of the aerodynamic force on the vibration frequency and amplitude of the membrane is obtained.

High permeability poly(vinylidene fluoride)ultrafiltration membrane doped with polydopamine modified TiO_(2) nanoparticles

In order to improve the water permeability of poly(vinylidene fluoride)(PVDF)ultrafiltration(UF)membranes with low molecular weight cut-off(MWCO),polydopamine(PDA)was employed in the membrane preparation process.Owing to itsmerits of material-independent adhesion,PDAwas coated on inorganic particles or added in coagulation bath to tailor the final membrane structure and property.The introduction of PDA broke through the permeability/selectivity trade-off of the PVDF membrane.By adding the PDA coated titaniumdioxide(PDA/TiO2)nanoparticles,water flux increased by 287% while MWCO kept similar with the pristine PVDF membrane.Thermodynamics and Kinetics of the PVDF/additives/non-solvent were analyzed and shown that nanoparticles reduced the thermodynamic stability and increased the phase separation speed,and the speed can be adjusted using different nanoparticles.Additionally,X-ray diffraction(XRD)test indicated that PVDF crystalline form changed fromαphase to β phase after adding different nanoparticles.Permeability/selectivity trade-offwas broken through by DA addition in coagulation bath.Compared with the original PVDF membrane,when the DA concentration of the coagulation bath was 2.0 g·L^−1,water flux increased by 312%,and MWCO of the PVDF membrane ranged in 10,000 to 20,000 Da as well as contact angle decreased from 81.4°to 45°.

Perovskite-type oxygen-permeable membrane BaCo_(0.7)Fe_(0.2)Nb_(0.1)O_(3-δ) for partial oxidation of methane in coke oven gas to hydrogen

Perovskite-type oxygen-permeable membrane reactors of BaCo0.7Fe0.2Nb0.1O3-δ （BCFNO） packed with Ru-based catalyst had high oxygen permeability and could be used for hydrogen production by partial oxidation of methane in coke oven gas （COG）. At 1173 K, 94% of methane conversion, 85% of H2 selectivity, 107% of CO selectivity, and as high as 15.4 mL·cm^-2·min^-1 of oxygen permeation flux were obtained. The BCFNO membrane itself had poor catalytic activity to partial oxidation of CH4 in COG. During continuous operation for 70 h at 1173 K, no degradation of the membrane reaction performance was observed. XRD and SEM characterization also demonstrated that the BCFNO membrane reactor exhibited good stability in partial oxidation of methane in COG.

Performance of a tubular oxygen-permeable membrane reactor for partial oxidation of CH_4 in coke oven gas to syngas

A gas-tight BaCo 0.7 Fe 0.2 Nb 0.1 O 3-δ（BCFNO） tubular membrane was fabricated by hot pressure casting.And a membrane reactor with BCFNO tubular membrane and Ag-based sealant was readily constructed and applied to partial oxidation of CH4 in coke oven gas.At 875 ℃,95% of methane conversion,91% of H 2 and as high as 10 ml cm-2·min-1 of oxygen permeation flux were obtained.There was a good match in the coefficient of thermal expansion between Ag-based alloy and BCFNO membrane materials.The tubular BCFNO membrane reactor packed with Ni-based catalysts exhibited not only high activity but also good stability in hydrogen-enriched coke oven gas（COG） atmosphere.

Effect of Lanthanum Chloride on Membrane Permeability of Corn Root Tissue

The effect of lanthanum ion on membrane permeability of corn root segment is studied.Results shows that treatment of the root segments with LaCl_3·7H_2O can decrease the ion leakage of the root tissue.The leakage decreases hy increasing the concentration of lanthanum,and the concentration has no further dependence on ion leakages above 25 μmol/L.After treating the root tissue for one hour with lanthanum ion,the amount of leak- age has linear dependence on time within the first 2 h and after two hours the leakage increases.The ion leakage of the tissue dependes on the time of lanthanum treatment.When the duration of treatment is prolonged,the leakage decreases rapidly and the leakage reaches a minimum at 30 minutes.Other rare earth elements can also decrease ion leakage.There is no significant difference in the ion leakage among these elements.

AN EXTENSION OF THE METHOD FOR PREDICTING PERMEABILITY THROUGH POLYMER MEMBRANES FROM SIMPLE GASES TO WATER VAPOR

It is found that there is a linear relationship between log P-w, and the parameter term V-f/0.5 E(coh) [1+(delta(w) - delta(p))(2)/delta(p)(2), from the water permeability (P-w) data of 21 polymers covering 4 orders of magnitude. This correlation may be useful in choosing membrane materials for dehumidification of gases.

Towards superior permeability and antifouling performance of sulfonated polyethersulfone ultrafiltration membranes modified with sulfopropyl methacrylate functionalized SBA-15

A non-solvent induced phase separation(NIPS)process was used to fabricate a series of sulfonated polyethersulfone(SPES)membranes blending with different concentrations of SBA-15-g-PSPA with the applications in the ultrafiltration(UF)process.SBA-15 was modified with 3-methacrylate-propyltrime thoxysilane(MPS)to form SBA-15-g-MPS.It was further modified with the charge tailorable polymer chains by reacting with 3-sulfopropyl methacrylate potassium salt.The nanoparticles were uniformly dispersed and finger-like channels were developed within the membrane.The adding of surface modified SBA-15-g-PSPA nanoparticles has significantly improved membrane water permeability,hydrophilicity,and antifouling properties.The pure water fluxes of the composite SPES membranes were significantly higher than the pristine SPES membrane.For the membrane containing 5%(mass)of SBA-15-g-PSPA(MSSPA5),the pure water flux was increased dramatically to 402.15 L
m^(-2)·h^(-1),which is ~1.5 times that of MSSPA0(268.0 L
m^(-2)·h^(-1)).The high flux rate was achieved with 3%(mass)of SBA-15 nanoparticles with retained high rejection ratio 98%for natural organic matter.The results indicate that the fashioned composite membrane comprising SBA-15-g-PSPA nanoparticles have a promising future in ultrafiltration applications.

GAS PERMEABILITY OF COPOLY(1-TRIMETHYL-SILYL-1-PROPYNE-PENTAMETHYL-DISILYL-1-PROPYNE) MEMBRANE

The permeability of copoly (1-trimethylsilyl-1-propyne-pentamethyldisilyl-1-propyne) membrane for twelve gases (0_2, N_2, CO_2, H_2, D_2, He, At, CH_4, C_2H_4, C_2H_6, C_3H_6 and C_3H_8) was examined. The basic laws of solution and diffusion of the gases in the membrane were expounded preliminarily. It was found that a linear relationship between logarithm of diffusion coefficient (D) and critical molar volume (V_c) of the gases. The permeation characteristics of the gases in the copoly (1-trimethylsilyl-1-propyne-pentamethyldisilyl-1-propyne) membrane was also discussed.

Mathematical modelling of drug permeability of biodegradable membrane for implant use

The objective of this paper is to derive a tentative mathematical formula of drug permeability of biodegradable membrane for implant use on the basis of Buckingham P i Theorem in principles of dimensional analysis.Such a theoretical predictive formula would be very useful for not only designing a sustained release system of drug made of biodegradable material for implant use before it is made but also for saving much time and expenses of the experiment. Three basic units were selected to describe the problem due to the invariableness of temperature under the normal physiological condition.They are mass,length and time.At first,a general mathematical formula was derived from Buckingham P i Theorem,in which the relevant parameters were placed into dimensionless Π groups.Secondly,as a special case interested to us,we gave out a predictive formula of permeability of various drugs with different molecular weights and saturated concentrations through Polylactic Acid Membrane with specified characteristics for implant use.For this end,we computed six kinds of drugs.The linear regression analysis of the relationship among these Π groups with drug permeability yielded coefficients for the corresponding Π groups.The obtained results in our paper mainly fitted in with ones obtained by the experiments under in vitro condition.Finally,a computer program for predicting drug permeability was given out in this article.

Comparison of Gas Permeability and Selectivity Between Alumina Membrane and Vycor Glass at High Temperatures

In this study, gas permeability and selectivity of Vycor glass and alumina membrane were compared by using H2, CO2, CO, CH4 and N2 gases at the temperatures of 323-823 K before and afterapplying the silica coating process. H2 permeability decreased with increasing the temperature before silica coating both in Vycor glass and alumina membrane.? However, H2 permeability increased with increasing the temperature, that was an indication of activated transport after silica coating both in Vycor glass and alumina membrane. Lower permeability values and higher selectivities were obtained in Vycor glass membrane than alumina membrane having higher permeability and lower selectivities.

Enhancement of CREC sensitivity to fosfomycin by baicalein through increasing outer membrane permeability

Background:To confirm whether baicalein improves the sensitivity of carbapenem-resistant Escherichia coli(CREC)to fosfomycin by increasing the permeability of bacterial outer membrane in vitro experiments.Methods:The clinically isolated CREC strains were amplified and then divided into three groups including baicalein monotherapy groups,fosfomycin monotherapy groups,and baicalein plus fosfomycin groups,and their minimum inhibitory concentrations(MICs)measurement and interpretation were performed according to CLSI interpretive criteria.To determine bacterial permeability after contact with baicalein,CREC were incubated with fluorescein isothiocyanate(FITC)after pretreatment with blank control without baicalein,with 0.25 MIC of baicalein,and with 0.125 MIC of baicalein,followed by observation of the intrabacterial fluorescence intensity of FITC.In addition,CREC were pretreated with 0.125 MIC of baicalein and with blank control without baicalein followed by measurement of alkaline phosphatase(AKP)leak to determine the change of bacterial permeability.Results:The MIC range in baicalein monotherapy groups was from 128 mg/L to 256 mg/L,and the MIC range in fosfomycin monotherapy groups was from 16 mg/L to 1,024 mg/L,but the MIC range in both combination therapy groups was reduced to 4 mg/L to 64 mg/L.The combination use reduced the MIC of each therapy by 75%-96.88%in all strains,and the fractional inhibitory concentration index(FICI)values less than or equal to 0.5.In the permeability assay,no permeabilization of FITC was observed in the blank groups without baicalein,but the intrabacterial FITC aggregation was observed in the groups of pretreatment with 0.25 MIC of baicalein or 0.25 MIC of baicalein.In the AKP leak assay,the AKP leak was more severe at the groups of coincubation with 0.25 MIC of baicalein than those blank groups without baicalein within the first 6 hours.Conclusion:Our study suggests that baicalein may synergistically enhance the antibacterial effect of fosfomycin by increasing the permeability of CREC outer membrane.

Effect of Membrane Thickness on Permeability Coefficient of Microcapsule

The effect of membrane thickness of mieroeapsule, measured by optical microseope duplex focusing, on its permeability coefflcient is discussed. The results reveal that the membrane thickness is of great imiportance on the permeabillty coefficient with changes of formaldehyde dosage, complex coacervation times, core dosage, agitation rate and emulsification time.