Effect of the membrane potential on the performance of ultrafiltration membranes

Abstract

In the pressure driven process the performance of membranes for ultrafiltration can be changed by incorporating charged groups into the membranes. sulfonation of polysulfone membranes the membrane potential is varied. On interaction of the negatively charged membrane with positively or negatively charged protein molecules the formation of a concentration polarization gel layer proceeds at different rate. Thus, the performance of the membrane can be controlled by the membrane potential. The dependence of the performance on the potential is discussed and procedures for membrane cleaning are suggested.