Fast membrane osmometer as alternative to freezing point and vapor pressure osmometry

Osmometry is an essential technique for solution analysis and the investigation of chemical and biological phenomena. Commercially available osmometers rely on the measurements of freezing point, vapor pressure, and osmotic pressure of solutions. Although vapor pressure osmometry (VPO) and freezing point osmometry (FPO) can perform rapid and inexpensive measurements, they are indirect techniques, which rely on thermodynamic assumptions, which limit their applicability. While membrane osmometry (MO) provides a potentially unlimited direct measurement of osmotic pressure and solution osmolality, the conventional technique is often time-consuming and difficult to operate. In the present work, a novel membrane osmometer is presented. The instrument significantly reduces the conventional MO measurement time and is not subject to the limitations of VPO and FPO. For this paper, the osmotic pressure of aqueous sucrose solutions was collected in a molality range 0-5.5, by way of demonstration of the new instrument. When compared with data found in the literature, the experimental data were generally in good agreement. However, differences among results from the three techniques were observed.