On the Behavior of Micellar Solutions in Tangential Ultrafiltration Using Mineral Membranes

J Colloid Interface Sci. 1996 Nov 10;183(2):491-7. doi: 10.1006/jcis.1996.0572.

Abstract

Tangential ultrafiltration associated with the technology of mineral membrane is expected to offer several advantages compared to stirred cell ultrafiltration (often used at the laboratory level): (i) easier operating and cleaning procedures; (ii) better resistance to corrosion; (iii) reduced concentration polarization effects. The behavior of surfactant micelles, which can be used as the extracting phase in such processes, has been given little attention so far. The present work was aimed at investigating the behavior of different kinds of surfactants from the viewpoints of the permeate flux and of the amount of surfactant passing through the membrane. We have used two types of zirconium-titanium oxide membranes with molecular weight cutoff of 10,000 or 15,000 Da. The influence of parameters such as applied pressure, retentate flow rate, added salt, and value of pH was taken into consideration. The results obtained with cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC, cationic), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS, anionic), and polyethylene glycol tert-octylphenyl ether (Triton X-100, nonionic) are discussed in terms of their possible interactions with (or adsorption onto) the membranes and their supporting material.