Journal
JOURNAL OF MEMBRANE SCIENCE
Volume 526, Issue -, Pages 221-228Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.memsci.2016.12.038
Keywords
Molecular weight cut-off (MWCO); Organic solvent nanofiltration (OSN); Solvent Resistant Nanofiltration (SRNF); Polypropylene glycol) (PPG); Polypropylene oxide) (PPO); Reverse phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC); Evaporative light scattering detection (ELSD); Membranes
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Funding
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) [EP/G03768X/1, EP/M01486X/1]
- European Research Council (ERC) [646769]
- European Research Council (ERC) [646769] Funding Source: European Research Council (ERC)
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council [EP/M01486X/1, 1222500] Funding Source: researchfish
- EPSRC [EP/M01486X/1] Funding Source: UKRI
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A new method for determining the molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) of an organic solvent nanofiltration (OSN) membrane has been developed utilising poly(propylene glycol) (PPG) oligomers. This new MWCO method overcomes the limitations of the currently popular methods: namely the high molecule cost in the popular polystyrene method, the Donnan Exclusion effects when using dye molecules and the solvent compatibility and HPLC separation resolution limitations of the lesser used poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) method. A new reverse phase high-performance liquid chromatography separation with evaporative light scattering detection (ELSD) allows the concentration of each oligomer of PPG to be accurately determined and from this the MWCO curves are constructed. The method has a high resolution (size increment of 58 g mol(-1) corresponding to the OCH(CH3)CH2 structural unit) and can be used in polar, polar aprotic, and non-polar solvents. The accuracy of the method has been demonstrated in three different solvents (methanol, acetone, and toluene) and 5 different OSN membranes (DuraMem (R) 150, 200, 500, PuraMem (R) 280 and StarMem (TM) 240). Other advantages include; oligomers of PPG are cheap and widely available, can probe a wide range of MWCO and provide high resolution MWCO curves. Consequently, it is proposed that this method be adopted as a new standard MWCO test for OSN membranes.
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