(610b) Comparative Study of Filtration Membrane Production Based On Solvent Extraction and Sulfonation

The generation of membranes has grown in recent years, and that has caused a high business impact. One of the materials used to manufacture membranes are polymers due to properties such as the adoption of different shapes and control over their molecular configurations. There are different methods of separation for the generation of membranes. Polystyrene membranes were performed by extraction and sulfonation. In the method of extraction was varied the percentage by weight of the polymer and solvent, in order to determine the composition and the most suitable solvent for an appropriate pore distribution, while the extractant remained constant. For sulfonation method was used only a percentage by weight of polymer, and by sulfonation reaction sulfonated polystyrene was prepared prior to generating the membrane. After obtaining the membranes, covered with gold, because the samples are not conductive and observed in scanning electron microscopy for characterization and structure determination. Was found for the extraction method that the best structure is obtained for a rate of 5% polymer using chloroform as solvent, with a pore size of 0,1 μm and an asymmetrical structure; for the membrane produced from sulfonation, the pore size was greater and the structure was asymmetrical too.