Performance of solution‐cast membranes of poly(hydroxythyl methacrylate) in osmosis and reverse osmosis

Abstract

Abstract Noncrosslinked copolymers of hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) with ethyl methacrylate (EMA) were prepared and investigated as candidate materials for reverse osmosis membranes. Water and salt flux were calculated from the results of osmosis experiments, compared with cellulose acetate and found to be somewhat smaller. The mobility of water varies by several orders of magnitude between a high flux cellulose acetate membrane and a low flux HEMA‐EMA membrane.