Synthesis and characterization of polymer membranes for hemodialysis

Membrane technology has proven its potential to be considered as an alternative separation technique. In this work, hemodialysis membranes were fabricated using cellulose acetate (CA) as the basic chain polymer. CA was dissolved in three different solvent, acetone, acetic acid, and formic acid, to see the effect of solvent on the fabricated membranes. Acetic acid and formic acid solutions showed rapid precipitation compared to acetone solution. The membranes fabricated by using acetic acid and formic acid showed good porosity and flux. The fabricated membranes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. SEM analysis of the membranes revealed that using polyethylene glycol as an additive enhances the porosity of membranes. The fluxes of pure water, glucose, and urea solutions were measured in a laboratory-scale experimental setup. Fick's law of diffusion was applied to quantify the flux through the membranes.