Working on different transparent polymer substrates that are semiporous in nature

Rhydo

Hi!

My friends and I have been working on a project which encapsulates the use of semi porous transparent membranes that can selectively pass glucose molecules through them in one direction.

Does such a membrane already exist? Where can I get literature on the construction and/or existence of such materials? Also are such membranes used in contact lenses?

Any help would be appreciated.

epenguin

Basically I think such a thing does not exist.
In dialysis substances like glucose pass through a membrane in both directions. But the result is that more will pass from the side where it is more concentrated to the side where it is less.
Then there is ultrafiltration where solvent passes through a membrane under pressure. Low MW molecules go with it and higher MW do not pass the membrane.

So on a molecular weight basis some molecules can pass slower than others. Probably there are membranes more specific about what they pass, particularly on basis of charge.

There is also electrodialysis.

Have a look at the commercial literature, brochures etc.

chemisttree

A good place to look is in the literature related to the encapsulation of Islet cells.

Rhydo

Thanks for that! We were actually looking for something that would allow glucose to move in just one direction. So 'dialysis tubing' was something that we were looking into. Now I suppose we can start with some experiments!

Rhydo

I had no idea about this field. Thanks! This helped a lot!!