Membrane

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A membrane is a layer of material which serves as a selective barrier between two phases and remains impermeable to specific particles, molecules, or substances when exposed to the action of a driving force. Some components are allowed passage by the membrane into a permeate stream, whereas others are retained by it and accumulate in the retentate stream.

Membranes can be of various thickness, with homogeneous or heterogeneous structure. Membrane can also be classified according to their pore diameter. According to IUPAC, there are three different types of pore size classifications: microporous (dp < 2nm), mesoporous (2nm < dp < 50nm) and macroporous (dp > 50nm). Membranes can be neutral or charged, and particles transport can be active or passive. The latter can be facilitated by pressure, concentration, chemical or electrical gradients of the membrane process. Membranes can be generally classified into three groups: inorganic, polymeric or biological membranes. These three types of membranes differ significantly in their structure and functionality.

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News tagged with membrane


Synthetic protein mimics structure, function of metalloprotein in nature

Synthetic protein mimics structure, function of metalloprotein in nature

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Dec 10, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1

Scientists have designed a synthetic protein that is both a structural model and a functional model of a native protein, nitric-oxide reductase.





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Study explores 'garbage disposal' role of VCP and implications for degenerative disease

Study explores 'garbage disposal' role of VCP and implications for degenerative disease

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

It's important to finish what you start, say Jeong-Sun Ju and researchers from Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis. In the December 14, 2009 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology, Ju et al. ...


Flying dinosaur controversy resolved

Flying dinosaur controversy resolved

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Dec 10, 2009 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (17) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- New research appears to have ended a scientific debate that has vexed palaeontologists for almost 100 years.


Researchers identify a scaffold regulating protein disposal

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Dec 11, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

How does a cell manage to identify and degrade the diverse types of defective proteins and thus protect the body against serious diseases? The researchers Sabine C. Horn, Professor Thomas Sommer, Professor Udo Heinemann and ...


Penn researchers find reproductive germ cells survive and thrive in transplants, even among species

Researchers find reproductive germ cells survive and thrive in transplants, even among species

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Dec 15, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1

Reproductive researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia have succeeded in isolating and transplanting pure populations of the immature cells that enable male ...


Biofunctionalized magnetic-vortex microdiscs

Highlight: Biofunctionalized magnetic-vortex microdiscs

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Dec 09, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 0

Users from Argonne's Materials Science Division and University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Medicine, working collaboratively on a user science project with CNM's Nanobio Interfaces Group, have discovered ...


 Killer catfish? Venomous species surprisingly common, study finds

Killer catfish? Venomous species surprisingly common, study finds

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Dec 10, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- Name all the venomous animals you can think of and you probably come up with snakes, spiders, bees, wasps and perhaps poisonous frogs. But catfish?



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