ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of physical, chemical, thermal, and mechanical characterization of membranes, in addition to membrane performance assessment techniques. Physical properties characterization techniques deal mainly with the porosity and the roughness of the membrane, and the foulants on the membrane surface. They include electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and Fourier transform infrared microscopy. Chemical properties characterization techniques address the membranes’ chemical composition, their phases, and their surface charge. Such techniques include energy dispersive X-ray, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, attenuated total reflectance – Fourier transform infrared, X-Ray diffraction, and contact angle and zeta potential measurements. Thermal properties are examined using thermal gravimetric analysis to check the effect of composition of the thermal behavior of membranes and differential scanning calorimetry, while for mechanical properties, tensile testing is usually used to examine the strength of membrane materials. To complete the picture, membrane performance assessment is performed by determination of flux and salt rejection rates.
