- Artificial membrane
An artificial membrane, also called a synthetic membrane, is a membrane prepared for separation tasks in
laboratory and industry. Its active part, which permits selective transport of material, usually consists ofpolymer s orceramic s, seldomglass ormetal s. A membrane may contain auxiliary parts for mechanical support, drainage, patch etc.The driving force of the material transport is given by
concentration ,pressure , electrical orchemical gradient across the membrane. Membranes can be prepared in the form of flat sheets, tubes, capillaries and hollow fibres. Membranes are built in membrane systems like plate and frame, spiral-wound module, hollow fibre module, tube-in-shell module. Some of the most common artificial membranes arepolymeric membranes . Under some conditionsceramic membranes can be utilized with advantage.Such membranes are employed in a wide range of
membrane operation s, such asmicrofiltration ,ultrafiltration ,reverse osmosis ,pervaporation ,gas separation ,dialysis orchromatography . The applications depend on the type of functionality incorporated in the membrane, which can be based on size-exclusion,chemical affinity orelectrostatics .Typical applications in which membranes have been used are
water purification , removal ofmicroorganisms indairy products ,water desalination ,dehydrogenation ofnatural gas ,hemodialysis or as components offuel cells .ee also
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Membrane
*Semipermeable membrane
*Membrane electrode assembly
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