- Email: [email protected]
Surface Chemistry and Electrochemistry of Membranes, Surfactant Science Series,
www.elsevier.nl/locate/jelechem Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry 492 (2000) 78 – 79
Book Review
Surface Chemistry and Electrochemistry of Membranes, Surfactant Science Series, Edited by Torben Smith Sørensen, Marcel Dekker, New York, 1999. ISBN 08247-1922-0, xii +1016 pp.; US $225.00 Membranes, structures separating two media or confining a phase, are essential to life, not only for example as the site of information processing in the case of nerve cells, but also in energy generation, e.g. in the mitochondrion and in many other cellular functions. Besides their obvious importance in biology, synthetic membranes have found many uses, e.g. filtration, dialysis and electrochemical power generation in fuel cells. The diversity of structures and of applications makes it difficult to present, within a single volume, the full range of the basic physical chemistry underpinning their structure and function. The Monograph edited by T.S. Sørensen attempts to present some of these fundamental issues as well as many different applications. The book spans over 1000 pages and is roughly divided into five parts, addressing different problems of the surface chemistry and electrochemistry of membranes. Chapters 1– 5 describe mainly surface structure and the techniques employed for its characterisation. In the case of ultra- and nanofiltration membranes, modern surface probe microscopies are of considerable interest, in particular when the probe itself (the tip) can be functionalised for achieving both electrostatic and chemical specificity imaging. On a practical vein, the determination of materials porosity is of practical importance and the pitfalls in the analysis of these techniques are well described. The question of surface functionalisation is very comprehensively described in Chapter 3, which brings a very useful compilation of the chemistry employed to impart specific surface functionalities to membranes. The chemical strategies summarised find application beyond membrane science and there is currently a great research effort in achieving surface functionality of materials by chemical means. Parts II and III of the Monograph bring a group of papers and reviews dealing with transport properties of uncharged and charged species across membranes. Irreversible thermodynamics has been the traditional approach followed for the analysis of complex transport
phenomena, in particular when different driving forces are present and this group of chapters is a good example of its use. The chapters by Sørensen represent a rigorous tour de force of the various aspects of the use of irreversible thermodynamics in membrane science, almost representing a book within a book. Some practical applications of the theory are described, e.g. the relationship between the phenomenonological coefficients and the mechanical filtration and osmotic flow coefficients (Chapter 6), and the problem of protein fouling of porous membranes in separation engineering. Chapter 9, by Woermann, which analyses osmotic flow in gels, is an interesting example of how transport equations are derived from the fundamental concepts of entropy production and can be further used for the prediction of the properties of filtration membranes. Interestingly, it is shown how ‘up-hill’ electrolyte transport can be predicted for isothermal experiments. The excellent reviews by Manzanares, Kontturi and Mafe´ present a clear description of the electrochemical transport problem and the solution of the Nernst – Planck equation applied to membranes. Chapter 11 is an authoritative analysis of the physical meaning of the transport numbers usually measured across membranes. Transport across highly charged membranes is of great practical importance in fuel cell technology and Chapters 13 and 14 bring a comprehensive irreversible thermodynamics analysis to describe ionic and, importantly, water transport. These questions are of fundamental importance for modelling fuel cell performance. One of the preferred techniques for membrane characterisation has been ac impedance measurements and an extensive analysis of this problem, covering topics from Maxwell equations to ionic distribution relaxation phenomena, is presented in Chapters 18 –20. The Monograph finishes with a few topics on biological systems, such as ion transport using Goldman’s approximation, surface electrostatic calculations and adhesion. The review by Di Salvo (Chapter 21) highlights some of the fundamental issues of bilayer structures, such as water distribution and phospholipid headgroup orientation.
0022-0728/00/$ - see front matter © 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S0022-0728(00)00255-2
Book re6iew
It is unfortunate that IUPAC nomenclature has not been followed throughout and some expressions, such as the EMF, are still being used. Also, better care should have been taken with the inclusion of the list of symbols used. Several chapters in the Monograph are really research papers that should have been published in appropriate specialised journals and contribute little to the general understanding of the subject. However, this Monograph does present a fascinating snapshot of different aspects of membrane science, although the inclusion of too many topics in a single volume is, at times, unhelpful for providing an appropriate focus for
79
the book. This Monograph is an important reference text and hopefully will encourage the further application of the elegant and rigorous techniques of irreversible thermodynamics to the investigation of dynamic processes in membranes. 12 May 2000
David J. Schiffrin Chemistry Department, Uni6ersity of Li6erpool, PO Box 147, Li6erpool L69 7ZD, UK E-mail: [email protected]
Book Review
Surface Chemistry and Electrochemistry of Membranes, Surfactant Science Series, Edited by Torben Smith Sørensen, Marcel Dekker, New York, 1999. ISBN 08247-1922-0, xii +1016 pp.; US $225.00 Membranes, structures separating two media or confining a phase, are essential to life, not only for example as the site of information processing in the case of nerve cells, but also in energy generation, e.g. in the mitochondrion and in many other cellular functions. Besides their obvious importance in biology, synthetic membranes have found many uses, e.g. filtration, dialysis and electrochemical power generation in fuel cells. The diversity of structures and of applications makes it difficult to present, within a single volume, the full range of the basic physical chemistry underpinning their structure and function. The Monograph edited by T.S. Sørensen attempts to present some of these fundamental issues as well as many different applications. The book spans over 1000 pages and is roughly divided into five parts, addressing different problems of the surface chemistry and electrochemistry of membranes. Chapters 1– 5 describe mainly surface structure and the techniques employed for its characterisation. In the case of ultra- and nanofiltration membranes, modern surface probe microscopies are of considerable interest, in particular when the probe itself (the tip) can be functionalised for achieving both electrostatic and chemical specificity imaging. On a practical vein, the determination of materials porosity is of practical importance and the pitfalls in the analysis of these techniques are well described. The question of surface functionalisation is very comprehensively described in Chapter 3, which brings a very useful compilation of the chemistry employed to impart specific surface functionalities to membranes. The chemical strategies summarised find application beyond membrane science and there is currently a great research effort in achieving surface functionality of materials by chemical means. Parts II and III of the Monograph bring a group of papers and reviews dealing with transport properties of uncharged and charged species across membranes. Irreversible thermodynamics has been the traditional approach followed for the analysis of complex transport
phenomena, in particular when different driving forces are present and this group of chapters is a good example of its use. The chapters by Sørensen represent a rigorous tour de force of the various aspects of the use of irreversible thermodynamics in membrane science, almost representing a book within a book. Some practical applications of the theory are described, e.g. the relationship between the phenomenonological coefficients and the mechanical filtration and osmotic flow coefficients (Chapter 6), and the problem of protein fouling of porous membranes in separation engineering. Chapter 9, by Woermann, which analyses osmotic flow in gels, is an interesting example of how transport equations are derived from the fundamental concepts of entropy production and can be further used for the prediction of the properties of filtration membranes. Interestingly, it is shown how ‘up-hill’ electrolyte transport can be predicted for isothermal experiments. The excellent reviews by Manzanares, Kontturi and Mafe´ present a clear description of the electrochemical transport problem and the solution of the Nernst – Planck equation applied to membranes. Chapter 11 is an authoritative analysis of the physical meaning of the transport numbers usually measured across membranes. Transport across highly charged membranes is of great practical importance in fuel cell technology and Chapters 13 and 14 bring a comprehensive irreversible thermodynamics analysis to describe ionic and, importantly, water transport. These questions are of fundamental importance for modelling fuel cell performance. One of the preferred techniques for membrane characterisation has been ac impedance measurements and an extensive analysis of this problem, covering topics from Maxwell equations to ionic distribution relaxation phenomena, is presented in Chapters 18 –20. The Monograph finishes with a few topics on biological systems, such as ion transport using Goldman’s approximation, surface electrostatic calculations and adhesion. The review by Di Salvo (Chapter 21) highlights some of the fundamental issues of bilayer structures, such as water distribution and phospholipid headgroup orientation.
0022-0728/00/$ - see front matter © 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S0022-0728(00)00255-2
Book re6iew
It is unfortunate that IUPAC nomenclature has not been followed throughout and some expressions, such as the EMF, are still being used. Also, better care should have been taken with the inclusion of the list of symbols used. Several chapters in the Monograph are really research papers that should have been published in appropriate specialised journals and contribute little to the general understanding of the subject. However, this Monograph does present a fascinating snapshot of different aspects of membrane science, although the inclusion of too many topics in a single volume is, at times, unhelpful for providing an appropriate focus for
79
the book. This Monograph is an important reference text and hopefully will encourage the further application of the elegant and rigorous techniques of irreversible thermodynamics to the investigation of dynamic processes in membranes. 12 May 2000
David J. Schiffrin Chemistry Department, Uni6ersity of Li6erpool, PO Box 147, Li6erpool L69 7ZD, UK E-mail: [email protected]