Transport and elastic parameters for dense regenerated cellulose membranes

A comparison of the electrochemical and elastic parameters determined for three dense regenerated cellulose (RC) membranes with different cellulose content is presented in this work. Different values for structural (fractional void volume), electrical (fixed charge concentration and ion transport number) and diffusional (ionic and salt diffusion coefficients) parameters were obtained, and temperature effect on membrane diffusivity also seems to be related to RC content. Moreover, the elastic characterization of the three membranes carried out by obtaining the normal strain–stress curve also shows a certain correlation between diffusional and elastic properties.

T (s) Fig. 5. (a) Strain–stress curve for the studied membranes at two time instances: t = 0, RC-3 (o), RC-5 (Δ) and RC6 (◊); t = 10 min, RC-3 (•), RC-5 (▲) and RC-6 (•). (b) Applied force versus time for membrane RC-5 at different elongations.