Microporous anisotropic phase inversion membranes from bisphenol-A polycarbonate: study of a ternary system

• Published in: Polymer (Guilford) Vol. 41; no. 11; pp. 4309 - 4315
• Main Authors: Di Luccio, M, Nobrega, R, Borges, C.P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.05.2000; Elsevier
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Exact sciences and technology; Exchange resins and membranes; Forms of application and semi-finished materials; Microporous membrane; Phase inversion; Polycarbonate; Polymer industry, paints, wood; Technology of polymers; Phase inversion; Polycarbonate; Microporous membrane; Structure processing relationship; Bisphenol A; Microporosity; Chemical precipitation; Porous membrane; Morphology; Phase reversal; Kinetics; Experimental study; Mechanism
• ISSN: 0032-3861; 1873-2291
• DOI: 10.1016/S0032-3861(99)00653-9

The aim of this work was to investigate anisotropic microporous membrane formation by phase inversion; using immersion precipitation technique and a ternary polymer system consisting of bisphenol-A polycarbonate, N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone as solvent and water as non-solvent to the polymer. Membrane morphology was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and related to some variables involved in membrane synthesis with the help of cloud-point measurements and precipitation kinetics, determined by means of light transmission experiments. The results show that the studied system presents a very small miscibility gap, which favors instantaneous demixing and the mechanism of nucleation and growth of the polymer lean phase, as well as macrovoid formation, yielding membranes with big macrovoids and low-pore interconnectivity, when directly immersed into a non-solvent bath.