Casting of a superhydrophobic membrane composed of polysulfone/Cera flava for improved desalination using a membrane distillation process

Saikat Sinha Ray, Shiao Shing Chen, Cao Thanh Ngoc Dan, Hung Te Hsu, Hau Ming Chang, Nguyen Cong Nguyen, Hau Thi Nguyen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

22 Scopus citations

Abstract

Superhydrophobic membranes are necessary for effective membrane-based seawater desalination. This paper presents the successful fabrication of a novel electrospun nanofibrous membrane composed of polysulfone and Cera flava, which represents a novel class of enhanced performance membranes consisting of a superhydrophobic nanofibrous layer and hydrophobic polypropylene (PP). Cera flava, which helps lower the surface energy, was found to be the ideal additive for increasing the hydrophobicity of the polysulfone (PSF) polymeric solution because of its components such as long-chain hydrocarbons, free acids, esters, and internal chain methylene carbons. In the fabricated membrane, consisting of 10 v/v% Cera flava, the top PSF-CF nanofibrous layer is active and the lower PP layer is supportive. The hybrid membrane possesses superhydrophobicity, with an average contact angle of approximately 162°, and showed high performance in terms of rejection and water flux. This work also examined the surface area, pore size distribution, fiber diameter, surface roughness, mechanical strength, water flux, and rejection percentage of the membrane. The salt rejection was above 99.8%, and a high permeate flux of approximately 6.4 LMH was maintained for 16 h of operation.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1808-1819
Number of pages12
JournalRSC Advances
Volume8
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 2018

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Royal Society of Chemistry 2018.

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