摘要 |
Surface modified, skinless, hydrophilic, microporous, polyamide membranes are formed by preparing a casting solution comprised of (A) a casting resin system comprised of (a) an alcohol-insoluble polyamide resin, and (b) a cationic, water-soluble, quaternary ammonium, thermosetting, membrane surface modifying polymer, and (B) a solvent system in which the casting resin system is soluble; inducing nucleation of the casting solution by controlled addition of a non-solvent for the casting resin system under controlled conditions to obtain a visible precipitate of casting resin system particles, thereby forming a casting composition; spreading the casting composition on a substrate to form a thin film; contacting and diluting the film of the casting composition with a liquid non-solvent system for the casting resin system, thereby precipitating the casting resin system from the casting composition in the form of a thin, skinless, hydrophilic, surface modified, microporous, polyamide membrane; and washing and drying the membrane. The membranes of this invention are characterized by having fine pore ratings, the surfaces thereof being substantially completely covered by the modifying polymer, a positive zeta potential in alkaline media, and for those with moderate or low levels of surface modifying polymer present, a time to reach an effluent resistivity of 14 megaohms/cm under the Resistivity Test of 10 minutes or less. They have greatly enhanced filtration efficieny over a broad pH range with a variety of contaminants, including very fine negatively charged particles, bacteria and endotoxins. |