Cross-Linking Combined with Surfactant Bilayer Assembly Enhances the Hydrophilic and Antifouling Properties of PTFE Microfiltration Membranes

Shijie Xu; Wenzhong Ma; Haicun Yang; Zheng Cao; Fanghong Gong; Chunlin Liu

doi:10.3390/separations9010002

Separations (Dec 2021)

Cross-Linking Combined with Surfactant Bilayer Assembly Enhances the Hydrophilic and Antifouling Properties of PTFE Microfiltration Membranes

Shijie Xu,
Wenzhong Ma,
Haicun Yang,
Zheng Cao,
Fanghong Gong,
Chunlin Liu

Affiliations

Shijie Xu: Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Environmentally Friendly Polymeric Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Photovoltaic Science and Engineering, Changzhou University, Changzhou 213164, China
Wenzhong Ma: Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Environmentally Friendly Polymeric Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Photovoltaic Science and Engineering, Changzhou University, Changzhou 213164, China
Haicun Yang: Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Environmentally Friendly Polymeric Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Photovoltaic Science and Engineering, Changzhou University, Changzhou 213164, China
Zheng Cao: Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Environmentally Friendly Polymeric Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Photovoltaic Science and Engineering, Changzhou University, Changzhou 213164, China
Fanghong Gong: Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Environmentally Friendly Polymeric Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Photovoltaic Science and Engineering, Changzhou University, Changzhou 213164, China
Chunlin Liu: Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Environmentally Friendly Polymeric Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Photovoltaic Science and Engineering, Changzhou University, Changzhou 213164, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/separations9010002
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 9, no. 1
p. 2

Abstract

Read online

The inherent strong hydrophobicity of Polytetrafluoroetylene (PTFE) microfiltration membranes results in low separation efficiency and easy contamination. In order to enhance its hydrophilic and antifouling properties, we first modified the PTFE microfiltration membrane by using Polyethylene glycol laurate (PEGML) for first layer deposition and then used Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/citric acid (CA) cross-linked coatings for second layer deposition. The Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) results showed that the fibers and nodes of the modified PTFE microfiltration membrane were coated with PVA/CA hydrophilic coating. FT-IR Spectromete and X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS) analysis results confirmed that crosslinking of PVA and CA occurred and that PEGML and PVA/CA were successfully deposited onto the membrane surface. The modification conditions were optimized by hydrophilicity testing, and the best hydrophilicity of the modified membrane was achieved when the crosslinking content of PEGML was 2 g·L−1, PVA was 5 g·L−1, and CA was 2 g·L−1. PTFE microfiltration membranes modified by the optimal conditions achieved a water flux of 396.9 L·m−2·h−1 (three times that of the original membrane) at low operating pressures (0.05 MPa), and the contact angle decreased from 120° to 40°. Meanwhile, the modified PTFE microfiltration membrane has improved contamination resistance and good stability of the hydrophilic coating.

Published in Separations

ISSN: 2297-8739 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Science: Physics; Science: Chemistry
Website: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/separations

About the journal

Abstract

Keywords