MEMBRANES OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE POLYMERS

Membranes, as part of technical processes, are gaining more importance in areas such as chemicals, biotechnology or waste-water treatment. The use of high performance polymers as membrane materials offers unique combinations of properties and allows new applications. Three different approaches towards membrane fabrication from high performance polymers such as polyaryls or polyaramides are discussed, i. e. maintenance of the polymer structure during processing and synthesis of better soluble structures via either polymer-analogous reactions or tailor-made copolymers. Examples of chemistry, property profiles and potential applications are given.