The reverse osmosis properties of ion-containing membranes prepared by 60Co mutual irradiation grafting of 2-vinylpyridine to poly(3,3-bis(chloromethyl)oxetane) (polyoxetane, Penton) followed by quaternization with methyl bromide are presented. In general, the volumetric fluxes varied linearly with pressures up to 55 atm. Katchalsky's treatment of membrane permeability was used to analyze the
... [Show full abstract] data. Membrane constants and diffusion coefficients of water and sodium chloride were determined with membranes containing different volume fractions of water. The diffusion coefficients of water in the membranes were of the same order of magnitude as the self-diffusion coefficient of water (∼3 × 10−5 cm2/s). The diffusion coefficients of sodium chloride in the membrane were of the order of 10−7 cm2/s. The diffusion coefficients increased with hydration, and the salt rejections were markedly affected by the external salt concentrations. The apparent energies of activation for the volumetric flux were calculated in distilled water and in 0.5% sodium chloride solution.