Use of Ultrasound to Prepare Permeable Crosslinked PVA Membranes

The major topic covered in this paper is the application of ultrasound to crosslinked- poly(vinyl alcohol) (c-PVA) membranes as a novel, simple, eco-friendly, green-method to enhance the reduced permeabilities of c-PVA membranes due to crosslinking. The effect of sonication on the swelling and diffusion behaviors of c-PVA membranes was compared with that of the additive added crosslinked composite membranes, for which n-SiO2 and n-Ag were used as nanofillers. Aqueous solutions of rhodamine-b (RB) and Fe3+ were used to determine the permeation characteristics of the membranes. By the study, it was determined that although the presence of n-Ag and also n-SiO2 increased the hydrophilicity and the permeation capability of the c-PVA membranes, ultrasonication (US) was found to be more effective, eco-friendy method to promote the permeation characteristics of the membranes.