Synthesis of solvent stable polymeric membranes via UV depth-curing.

Solvent stable polymeric membranes with morphologies ranging from highly porous to dense were prepared via UV curing using dedicatedly designed photopolymerizable compositions. To optimize the UV curing efficiency, various parameters including the photoinitiator type, cross-linker functionality, as well as membrane thickness were investigated. UV modified polysulfone membranes showed excellent solvent stability in addition to a 91% Rose Bengal (1017 Da) retention at a superior ethyl acetate permeance of 8 l m(-2) h(-1) bar(-1) in a typical solvent resistant nanofiltration (SRNF) experiment.