Osmotic water transport through cellulose acetate membranes produced from a latex system.

The advisability of a progressive curtailment of organic solvent film coating offers an incentive to develop latex systems. Here, the use of aqueous colloidal dispersions of cellulose acetate, plasticized with water-soluble additives, is proposed as an alternative way to obtain cellulose acetate membranes either by casting or spraying. The osmotic water permeability of both kinds of films was measured, as well as their loss of leachable materials and degree of swelling in a saturated solution of potassium chloride. The permeabilities varied over a wide range depending on the physicochemical properties of the plasticizer and its initial concentration in the latex, and on the conditions for coating (temperature, rate of spraying, and drying duration). High boiling point plasticizers gave more permeable films. Films prepared by casting were found to be sensitive to their sodium dodecyl sulfate content.