LIPID LAYER-IMMOBILIZED MEMBRANES PREPARED BY ULTRAFILTRATION AND THEIR GAS PERMEATION PROPERTIES

An easy and repeatable method for preparing lipid. layer-immobilized membranes using liposomes and ultrafiltration (UF) membranes was proposed. The performance of the prepared membrane was examined through gas permeation experiments. The membrane was stable and functional up to at least a 0.3 MPa pressure differential across the membrane. The gas permeation rate and gas separation factor varied concomitantly with the amount and composition of the lipids immobilized on the UF membrane. In the case of the membrane composed only of egg yolk phosphatidylcholine (PC), the O2 permeability coefficient was around 10(-15) m3tau(STP) m/m2 s Pa and the O2/N2 separation factor was around 2. The presence of cholesterol in the PC layers improved the O2/N2 separation factor at a specific O2 permeation rate. (C) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.