Preparation and Characterization of Chitosan Pressure-Driven Filtration Membranes

Resumo

Chitosan pressure-driven filtration membranes have been studied. The factors affecting the solubility of high-molecular-weight chitosan have been analyzed, and the optimal procedure for preparing its concentrated solutions has been proposed. Formulations of casting solutions for fabricating micro-, ultra-, and nanofiltration and reverse osmosis membranes based on chitosan have been developed. The membranes obtained using the dry and dry/wet casting techniques have been tested to determine their porosity, specific flux, and rejection ability. It has been established that the performance characteristics of the developed chitosan membranes are similar to those of pressure-driven filtration membranes made from other polymers.