Production of nuclear-track etched membranes
การทำเยื่อบางชนิดแกะรอยทางนิวเคลียร์costatum
Pikul Wanichapichart, Asst. Prof., D. of Physics, F. of Sci., PSU.
Thawat Chittrakarn, Assoc. Prof., D. of Physics, F. of Sci., PSU.
Witoon Sujaritturakarn, D. of Physics, F. of Sci., PSU.
Hans G.L. Coster, Prof., D. of Biophysics, School of Physics, UNSW., Australia
Corresponding e-mail : vpikul@ratree.psu.ac.th
Grant : PSU research unit grant 1999
Published : Science Asia 2000, 26(3) : 175-179
Key words : water flux, hydraulic permeability, track etched membrane
Track etched membranes were prepared in the laboratory by exposing commercially available polycarbonate sheets of 6 mm thickness to alpha particles emitted from nuclear reaction of (n, alpha) followed by chemical etching. A series of membranes were produced using different bombardment
and etching periods and the hydraulic conductivity of the resulting porous membranes were measured for applied pressures from 10 kPa to 50 kPa. It was noted that at higher pressures the hydraulic con-ductivity declined with pressure, probably because the track etched pores, as evidenced by Atomic Force Microscopy, were not normal to the membrane surface and this may have caused a partial
collapse of the pores at higher pressures. It was found that a two hour (n, alpha) bombardment at 6.5x
108 neutron.m-2.s-1 flux together with a 5 minute etching in 6N NaOH at 85 oC produced membranes
with a hydraulic permeability for water of 158x10-10 m3.N-1.s-1, which is comparable with to that of a commercial ("Millipore") MF membrane.
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