Innovative hydrophobic/hydrophilic perfluoropolyether (PFPE)/polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) composite membrane for vacuum membrane distillation

doi:10.1016/j.cjche.2021.03.018

Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering ›› 2022, Vol. 45 ›› Issue (5): 248-257.DOI: 10.1016/j.cjche.2021.03.018

Innovative hydrophobic/hydrophilic perfluoropolyether (PFPE)/polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) composite membrane for vacuum membrane distillation

Jun Pan^1,2,3, Xianli Xu^1,2,3, Zhaohui Wang^1,2,3, Shi-Peng Sun^1,2,3, Zhaoliang Cui^1,2,3, Lassaad Gzara⁴, Iqbal Ahmed⁴, Omar Bamaga⁴, Mohammed Albeirutty^4,5, Enrico Drioli⁶

1 State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 210009, China;
2 National Engineering Research Center for Special Separation Membrane, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 210009, China;
3 Jiangsu National Synergetic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials (SICAM), Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 210009, China;
4 Center of Excellence in Desalination Technology, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia;
5 Mechanical Engineering Department, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia;
6 Research Institute on Membrane Technology, ITM-CNR, Via Pietro Bucci 17/C, Rende 87036, Italy

Received:2021-01-05 Revised:2021-03-24 Online:2022-06-22 Published:2022-05-28
Contact: Zhaoliang Cui,E-mail:zcui@njtech.edu.cn;Mohammed Albeirutty,E-mail:mbeirutty@kau.edu.sa
Supported by:
The authors would like to express their appreciation for the financial support of the National Key Research & Development Program of China (2017YFC0403702), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51861135203), the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security (JNHB-036), the Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering State Key Laboratory Program (KL19-04). The authors also extend their appreciation to the Deputyship for Research and Innovation, Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia for funding this research work through the project number (632).

Innovative hydrophobic/hydrophilic perfluoropolyether (PFPE)/polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) composite membrane for vacuum membrane distillation

Jun Pan^1,2,3, Xianli Xu^1,2,3, Zhaohui Wang^1,2,3, Shi-Peng Sun^1,2,3, Zhaoliang Cui^1,2,3, Lassaad Gzara⁴, Iqbal Ahmed⁴, Omar Bamaga⁴, Mohammed Albeirutty^4,5, Enrico Drioli⁶

1 State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 210009, China;
2 National Engineering Research Center for Special Separation Membrane, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 210009, China;
3 Jiangsu National Synergetic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials (SICAM), Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 210009, China;
4 Center of Excellence in Desalination Technology, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia;
5 Mechanical Engineering Department, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia;
6 Research Institute on Membrane Technology, ITM-CNR, Via Pietro Bucci 17/C, Rende 87036, Italy

通讯作者: Zhaoliang Cui,E-mail:zcui@njtech.edu.cn;Mohammed Albeirutty,E-mail:mbeirutty@kau.edu.sa
基金资助:
The authors would like to express their appreciation for the financial support of the National Key Research & Development Program of China (2017YFC0403702), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51861135203), the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security (JNHB-036), the Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering State Key Laboratory Program (KL19-04). The authors also extend their appreciation to the Deputyship for Research and Innovation, Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia for funding this research work through the project number (632).

Abstract

Abstract: Though membrane distillation (MD) has gained more and more attention in the field of desalination, the wetting phenomenon was still a non-negligible problem. In this work, a method combined dip-coating and UV in situ polymerization for preparing hydrophobic/hydrophilic perfluoropolyether (PFPE)/polyvinylidene fluoride composite membranes. This composite membrane consisted of a top thin hydrophobic coating layer and hydrophilic substrate membrane. In terms of anti-wetting properties, contact angle and liquid entry pressure of all composite membranes (except for those based on 0.45 μm) exceeded 160° and 0.3 MPa, respectively. In particular, the desalination performance was tested in vacuum membrane distillation tests by feeding 3.5% (mass) saline solution (NaCl) at 60 ℃. The composite membranes with larger support pore size and lower PFPE content had higher membrane distillation flux. And for stability tests (testing the 0.22 μm membrane coated by 5% (mass) PFPE), the highest MD flux 29.08 kg·m^-2·h^-1 and stable salt rejection (over 99.99%) during the period. Except that, the effects of coating material concentration and pore sizes of substrate membrane were also investigated for surface morphology and topography, porosity, mechanical strength and pore size characteristics. This work provided a simple and effective alternative to prepare excellent hydrophobic composite membranes for MD applications.

Key words: Desalination, Membrane surface coating, Composite membranes, Anti-wetting, Vacuum membrane distillation

摘要： Though membrane distillation (MD) has gained more and more attention in the field of desalination, the wetting phenomenon was still a non-negligible problem. In this work, a method combined dip-coating and UV in situ polymerization for preparing hydrophobic/hydrophilic perfluoropolyether (PFPE)/polyvinylidene fluoride composite membranes. This composite membrane consisted of a top thin hydrophobic coating layer and hydrophilic substrate membrane. In terms of anti-wetting properties, contact angle and liquid entry pressure of all composite membranes (except for those based on 0.45 μm) exceeded 160° and 0.3 MPa, respectively. In particular, the desalination performance was tested in vacuum membrane distillation tests by feeding 3.5% (mass) saline solution (NaCl) at 60 ℃. The composite membranes with larger support pore size and lower PFPE content had higher membrane distillation flux. And for stability tests (testing the 0.22 μm membrane coated by 5% (mass) PFPE), the highest MD flux 29.08 kg·m^-2·h^-1 and stable salt rejection (over 99.99%) during the period. Except that, the effects of coating material concentration and pore sizes of substrate membrane were also investigated for surface morphology and topography, porosity, mechanical strength and pore size characteristics. This work provided a simple and effective alternative to prepare excellent hydrophobic composite membranes for MD applications.

关键词: Desalination, Membrane surface coating, Composite membranes, Anti-wetting, Vacuum membrane distillation

Jun Pan, Xianli Xu, Zhaohui Wang, Shi-Peng Sun, Zhaoliang Cui, Lassaad Gzara, Iqbal Ahmed, Omar Bamaga, Mohammed Albeirutty, Enrico Drioli. Innovative hydrophobic/hydrophilic perfluoropolyether (PFPE)/polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) composite membrane for vacuum membrane distillation[J]. Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2022, 45(5): 248-257.

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Innovative hydrophobic/hydrophilic perfluoropolyether (PFPE)/polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) composite membrane for vacuum membrane distillation

Innovative hydrophobic/hydrophilic perfluoropolyether (PFPE)/polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) composite membrane for vacuum membrane distillation

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