PDMS/PVDF hybrid electrospun membrane with superhydrophobic property and drop impact dynamics for dyeing wastewater treatment using membrane distillation

Alicia Kyoungjin An, Jiaxin Guo, Eui Jong Lee, Sanghyun Jeong, Yanhua Zhao, Zuankai Wang, Tor Ove Leiknes

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

330 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Fouling in membrane distillation (MD) results in an increase in operation costs and deterioration in a water quality. In this work, a poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropene) (PVDF-HFP) electrospun (E-PH) membrane was fabricated by hybridizing polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) polymeric microspheres with superhydrophobicity onto the E-PH membrane via electrospinning. The resulting hybrid PDMS with E-PH (E-PDMS) membrane showed a significant enhancement in surface hydrophobicity (contact angle, CA=155.4°) and roughness (Ra=1285 nm). The zeta potential of E-PDMS membrane surface showed a higher negative value than that of a commercial PVDF (C-PVDF) membrane. These properties of E-PDMS membrane provided an antifouling in treating of differently-charged dyes and generated a flake-like dye–dye (loosely bound foulant) structure on the membrane surface rather than in the membrane pores. This also led to a high productivity of E-PDMS membrane (34 L m−2h−1, 50% higher than that of C-PVDF membrane) without fouling or wetting. In addition, complete color removal and pure water production were achieved during a long-term operation. An application of intermittent water flushing (WF) in direct contact MD (DCMD) operation led to a 99% CA recovery of E-PDMS membrane indicating its sustainability. Therefore, the E-PDMS membrane is a promising candidate for MD application in dyeing wastewater treatment.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)57-67
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of Membrane Science
Volume525
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Direct contact membrane distillation
  • Dyeing wastewater
  • Electrospun membrane
  • Fouling
  • Polydimethylsiloxane
  • Polyvinylidene fluoride

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biochemistry
  • General Materials Science
  • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
  • Filtration and Separation

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