ABSTRACT
Novel membranes have been obtained from an aldehyde functionalized-polysulfone and poly(vinyl alcohol), in the presence of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) by a sol-gel method, and the effect of the amount of TEOS in the membrane formulations has been investigated. The characterization of the prepared membranes has been performed using attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermal analysis (TGA and DSC), and by wide-angle X-ray diffraction measurements (XRD). Also, the hydrophilicity, the water/alcohol absorption, and permeability of membranes were studied. The novel membranes showed a much lower absorption of water/alcohol than the one without TEOS. The membrane containing 1% TEOS exhibited a porous structure that entailed a permeability toward both polar (water and alcohols like ethanol and butyl alcohol) and nonpolar solvents (toluene, benzene), compared to pristine membrane which is permeable only for nonpolar solvents.
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Notes on contributors
Constantin Gaina
Dr Constantin Gaina is a senior researcher at Polyaddition and Photochemistry Laboratory from “Petru Poni” Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, Iasi, Romanian Academy. Research interest: heterocyclic thermostable polymers for high performance applications (parabanic polymers, polyaminobismaleimide resins, allyl-benzoxazine-maleimide polymers, retro Diels-Alder polymers, maleimide functional polymers).
Viorica Gaina
Dr. Viorica Gaina is a senior researcher at Polyaddition and Photochemistry Laboratory from “Petru Poni” Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, Iasi, Romanian Academy. Research interest: heterocyclic polymers and copolymers, hybrid materials based on thermostable polymers, polymeric materials with self-repair capacity.
Oana Ursache
Dr. Oana Ursache is a scientific researcher at Polyaddition and Photochemistry Laboratory from “Petru Poni” Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, Iasi, Romanian Academy. Research interest: Diels-Alder reactions, thermal and mechanical characterization, polyurethanes, chitosan based polymer networks.
Lavinia Vasiliu
Dr Lavinia Vasiliu is a research assistant at Functional Polymers Laboratory from “Petru Poni” Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, Iasi, Romanian Academy. Research interests: investigation of the morphology, topography and structure of different materials, as a SEM specialist and synthesis and characterization of composite materials, based on CaCO3 and natural/synthetic additives.