Kinetics of Phase Separation Polyamic Acid (PAA) Solutions with Various Precipitants

Abstract

A new method with limited layer of polymeric solution was used to study the kinetics of precipitation of highly concentrated solutions of PAA in various precipitants; it allows to quickly estimate the rate of formation of the polymer membrane, adequately evaluate its morphology without membrane casting and reduce the experimental time for the preparation of a membrane with required porous structure. It was shown that the rate of precipitation of 18 wt. % PAA solution and the morphology of a layer resulting from the phase separation formed upon contact with water differ significantly in a “limited” layer and in a layer of infinite thickness. It was shown that morphology of a layer formed during phase separation of 18 wt. % PAA solution with water in the “unlimited” layer corresponds to morphology, which is formed in precipitation by 50% NMP-water solution of the same polymer solution in a “limited” layer. This supports the assumption about the strong dilution of the precipitant with a solvent when an “unlimited” layer method is used. In addition, during the investigation of the kinetics of the phase separation by water it was found that the rate of precipitation of highly concentrated polymer solution in a “limited” layer (ν = 8.3 μm/s) is significantly higher than in “unlimited” (ν = 1.7 μm/s). Using this method with “limited” layer, the kinetics of the phase separation of 18 wt. % PAA solution in aliphatic alcohols was also investigated; the rate of precipitation of the polymer solution is inversely proportional to their viscosity. Approximately twofold increase of dynamic viscosity with the chain length for each subsequent alcohol in the homologous series, the rate of precipitation of the PAA solution in them was also reduced by about 2 times