Regenerated cellulose hydrogel membranes were prepared by introducing pre-gelation of the solution into the typical preparation procedure of immersion precipitation phase inversion of cellulose/NaOH/urea aqueous solution.The influences of the pre-gelation temperature

the sulphuric acid concentration and temperature of the coagulation bath on the structure and properties of the regenerated cellulose hydrogel membranes were investigated by static mechanical stretching and SEM.It was found that pre-gelation could effectively improve the mechanical properties of the resultant cellulose hydrogel membranes without obviously changing in the pore structure.The tensile strength of the membrane prepared by pre-gellation at 60℃ for 30 min was 85% higher than that of the control sample obtained without using pre-gelation.Both the increase in the temperature and the sulphuric acid concentration of the coagulation bath resulted in the formation of larger pores in the membranes accompanied with decrease in the mechanical properties.