LIQUID PERMEABILITY OF POROUS-GLASS MEMBRANE AND ITS MICROSTRUCTURE

Permeability of various liquids through a porous glass membrane prepared by phase separation of calcium aluminoborosilicate glass was discussed. It was found that liquid permeation behavior could be described with the Hagen-Poiseuille rule by applying the capillary bundle model to the membrane not depending on whether the liquid was hydrophilic or hydrophobic. Interfacial interaction of membrane pore with permeating liquid was not observed, because the pore size of membranes used was in the submicron to micron range. Furthermore, when kerosene was permeated through a membrane wetted with water, no flux could be obtained until applied pressure reached a critical pressure calculated from contact angle, interfacial tension and pore size. Thus, uniformly controlled pore size of porous glass membranes was confirmed by the permeation behavior as well as by mercury penetration porosimetry and by electron microscopic observation.