Role of Polyvinlyppyrrolidone in Membrane Technologies

Abstract

PVP, also known as polyvidone or povidone is a synthetic polymer consisting of linear 1-vinyl-2-yrrolidone groups. PVP is a versatile polymer with immense applications in pharmaceutical, biomedical and paper industry. This is due to the fact that PVP demonstrates a wide range of properties like water solubility, unique binding, high solubility in water as well as a broad range of liquid media, biocompatibility and good thermal resistance. Of late the use of PVP has been explored in the manufacturing of membranes for separation processes. This study reports the effect of PVP as a polymeric additive on the morphology, hydrophilicity and the performance of polymer membranes in general.