SynopsisThe second-generation polysulfone (PSU ) gas-separation membrane is seen as a trilayer that is considerably more permeable and at least as selective as the first-generation bilayer that it has replaced. In air separation, a fourfold increase in oxygen permeability has been obtained with no loss in oxygen/nitrogen selectivity. The enhanced performance is the result of a membrane skin that is not only thinner, but also exhibits increased free volume and a graded density. The key to the emergence of the trilayer morphology wm the discovery of a hitherto unsuspected relationship between the size of solvent mokcules within a sol and the free volume and permeability in the resultant gel! Solvent molecules with a molar volume V > -147 cc/mol function as transient templates (spacers) that decrease macromolecular packing density. As a practical matter, the low diffusivity (difficult extractibility) of large solvent molecules is circumvented by the use of 1 : 1 Lewis acid : base ( A : B) complexes such as propionic acid : N-methyl pyrrolidone instead of neat solvents. Complexes whose acid and base strengths, respectively, lie between (Gutmann 47 < AN < 53 and 27 < DN < 28) are sufficiently stable to function as templates, while at the same time exhibiting the hydrolytic instability that leads to their ready disassociation and extraction by water. Selectivity is maintained by the use of A : B complexes whose Hildebrand solubility parameters differ from that of PSU by less than -1.3 (cal/cc)'". The emergence of the trilayer membrane is considered to be the second decoupling of permeability from selectivity. By the formation of an anisotropic (graded density) skin, permeability has been increased and selectivity maintained. This is analogous to the first decoupling by Loeb and Sourirajan who essentially replaced a thick dense monolayer film with a bilayer consisting of a thin skin of uniform density in series with a thick porous substructure.

A concentric cyclinder dilatometer was designed and built to study the influence of shear on the crystallization kinetics of polymers. This instrument allows crystallization to be followed at both constant temperature and shear rate. Several samples of polyethylene oxide (Carbowax 4000, Carbowax 20‐M, and WSR‐205) were used. A low molecular weight fraction of the Carbowax 20‐M, as well as the unfractionated material, was crystallized under shear. The WSR‐205 was studied only in a mixture with Carbowax 4000. It was shown that the kinetics of crystallization of uncrosslinked melts of polyethylene oxide are altered by shear. The induction times for the appearance of crystallinity are shorter in the sheared systems than in the quiescent melts. The Avrami exponents are also higher for crystallization in sheared melts than in quiescent systems and increase with decreasing supercooling. The high values of the Avrami exponent are attributed to the disruption of crystalline aggregates into particles larger than the critical sized nucleus. These particles will persist in the melt and continue to grow spontaneously. A continuous infusion of growing particles into the melt occurs. At constant temperature and shear rate, the induction time of the crystallization curve is influenced by polymer molecular weight. In moderate to high molecular weight samples, the effect of shear becomes saturated at very low shear rates. Decreasing the molecular weight separates the crystallization curves. The curves from the higher shear rates appear at the shorter induction times. However, decreasing the molecular weight below that at the critical entanglement molecular weight allows the nucleation rate, strongly dependent upon the supercooling, to influence the relative positions of the sheared crystallization curves.

SY NOPSlSAtomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) were used to investigate the surface structure and morphology of 10,000, 30,000, and 100,000 dalton molecular weight cutoff (MWCO) polyethersulfone ( PES) ultrafiltration membranes, and the results are compared. Although both approaches reveal the pore structure in the 30,000 and 100,000 MWCO membranes, the pore diameters derived from SEM are smaller than those measured by AFM. This discrepancy is a result of the diminution in pore dimensions during the sample preparation for SEM, that is, the solvent exchange procedure needed to remove the water from the membrane prior to the high vacuum gold coating deposition step. In contrast to SEM, which requires a high vacuum both during heavy metal coating and during examination, AFM can be performed on wet ultrafiltration membranes. Consequently, the potential of altering the membranes' pore structures during sample preparation is eliminated. Therefore, the pore diameters obtained from AFM are more accurate than those derived from SEM.

The crystallization behavior of samples of poly(ethylene oxide) of varying molecular weights and molecular weight distributions has been studied under varying conditions of shear rate and temperature. These experiments have been carried out in two devices. One is a shearing parallel‐plate instrument that allows direct observation of the crystallizing medium. The other is a shearing concentric‐cylinder dilatometer. In general, shear enhanced the rates of crystallization and nucleation. However, conditions were encountered under which shear retarded crystallization and/or nucleation. Combination of the data from these two devices suggests that, under certain shearing and sample conditions, chain slippage and particle fracture lead to decreased apparent rates of nucleation and/or crystallization.

SynopsisAll integrally skinned asymmetric membranes contain some defects which are attributable to the incomplete coalescence of the nodule aggregates of which the skin layer is composed. When such defects are small in size and few in number, they can be effectively sealed by coating with a highly permeable polymer. The resulting composite then exhibits the selectivity to gas permeation which is characteristic of the base polymer. Prior to their sealing, therefore, such membranes can be said to exhibit the potential for intrinsic selectivity. However, not all gas separation membranes can be effectively sealed. In the present study the relationship between sol properties, the presence of macrovoids in the substructure of the gel, and the subsequent failure of the fibers to achieve the potential for intrinsic selectivity are considered. Macrovoid-free fibers with the potential for intrinsic selectivity can be prepared by the utilization of high viscosity, high total solids sols with low nonsolvent tolerance whose solvent vehicles consist of appropriate Lewis acid base complexes.