Transport characteristics of some carboxylic acids in the Polymeric anion-exchange membrane Neosepta-AMH:: Batch experiments

This article reports the transport of selected carboxylic acids-citric acid, oxalic acid, and tartaric acid-through an anion-exchange membrane (Neosepta-AMH) in a two-compartment dialysis cell. These basic data have been completed by measurements of the sorption isotherms. The mass-transfer rate has been quantified by the following transport characteristics: the overall dialysis coefficient, the permeability of the membrane, and the membrane mass-transfer coefficient. The sorption experiments have revealed that the Neosepta-AMH membrane exhibits the highest affinity to tartaric acid, whereas the lowest affinity has been found for citric acid. The analysis of the mass-transfer data has shown that the membrane is relatively permeable for oxalic acid: all three transport characteristics for oxalic acid are approximately 1 order of magnitude higher than those for citric or tartaric acid. (c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.