Three types of membranes of poly (γ-methyl D-glutamate) (PMDG), membrane A, B and C, were cast from 2% PMDG-ethylene dichloride solution under the different conditions. The membrane A was obtained by vacuum drying of the solution at 25°C for about 2 hrs. The membrane B and C were prepared by air-drying of the solution at 25°C for 3 days and 30 days, respectively. Sorption behaviors of these membranes could be described well by a dual sorption model which have been used effectively for gas-glassy polymer systems. The temperature dependence of Henry's law sorption parameter,
kD, of membrane B and C had an inflection point at the second order transition temperature of the side chain. On the other hand,
kD of membrane A linearly increased with increasing temperature. The Langmuir capacity term,
C′
H, of membrane A was considerably larger than those of B and C. The permeation behavior of membrane A involved the convectional flow, i.e., the permeability coefficient of CO
2 through membrane A linearly increased with increasing upstream pressure. On the other hand, the permeation behaviors of membrane B and C could be interpreted by the dual mobility model. As a result, separate diffusion coefficients of CO
2 for Henry's law and Langmuir modes,
DD and
DH, were estimated. It was found that the diffusivity for the Langmuir mode gas in the membranes was relatively high,
DH/
DD being almost equal to unity. All of these results were ascribed to the difference of the packing state of the α-helix chains in these membranes, which was caused by the different membrane preparation.
View full abstract