text: Dialysis membranes are produced and characterized according to molecular-weight cutoff (MWCO) limits. While membranes with MWCOs ranging from 1-1,000,000 kDa are commercially available, membranes with MWCOs near 10 kDa are most commonly used. The MWCO of a membrane is the result of the number and average size of the pores created during production of the dialysis membrane. The MWCO typically refers to the smallest average molecular mass of a standard molecule that will not effectively diffuse across the membrane during extended dialysis. Thus, a dialysis membrane with a 10K MWCO will generally retain greater than 90% of a protein having a molecular mass of at least 10kDa.
  It is important to note that the MWCO of a membrane is not a sharply defined value. Molecules with mass near the MWCO limit of the membrane will diffuse across the membrane more slowly than molecules significantly smaller than the MWCO. In order for a molecule to rapidly diffuse across a membrane, it typically needs to be at least 20- to 50-times smaller than the MWCO rating of a membrane. Therefore, it is not practical to separate a 30kDa protein from a 10kDa protein using dialysis across a 20K rated dialysis membrane.
  Dialysis membranes for laboratory use are typically made of a film of regenerated cellulose or cellulose esters. See reference for a review of cellulose membranes and manufacturing.