D.s.c. investigation of the states of water in poly(vinyl alcohol-co-itaconic acid) membranes

The state of water in water-swollen poly(vinyl alcohol-co-itaconic acid) membranes, having various water contents from 0.31 to 0.83, was investigated by d.s.c. measurements and compared with those in water-swollen poly(vinyl alcohol) membranes. The amount of freezing water in the membranes was estimated by use of a relationship between the phase transition temperature and the enthalpy of the crystallization of supercooled water. The melting temperature of the water in the membranes immersed in urea and NaCl 0–2 mol l^?1 aqueous solutions was also determined by d.s.c. analysis. The present study proposes a method for estimating the solubilities of urea and NaCl in both of the freezing and the non-freezing water using the melting point depression of the freezing water in the membranes immersed in the solute solution.