Transport studies with porous alumina membranes

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in utilizing inorganic membranes, particularly microporous membranes, for numerous biotechnology applications, inorganic catalysis and separation processes. In order to conduct a fundamental study of any membrane process, a well defined membrane system is required. In this paper, results from characterization experiments performed on porous Anotec alumina membranes containing uniform, parallel pores are reported. Scanning electron microscopy was used to determine pore density and pore length. Solvent (water) flow measurements and benzoic acid diffusion experiments were used to determine the pore radius. The pore radius values determined from these measurements were in good agreement, indicating the validity of the methods as well as pore radius uniformity. The application of this work for preparing a well defined immobilization membrane system is discussed.