Separation of oil vapour by polyether block amide composite membrane modified with porous materials.

The ability of membranes to separate oil vapour is affected by their permeance and selectivity. This study modifies polyether block amide (PEBA) composite membranes with a microporous zeolite, Silicalite-1, or a mesoporous zeolite, MCM-41. The results show that when PEBA composite membranes are modified with these zeolites, the selective layer of the composite membrane is coated more thinly, resulting in a higher flux of organic gas. Silicalite-1 increases the hydrophobicity of the membrane, which facilitates the adsorption of organic vapour on the membrane surface, thus improving the membrane selectivity. In the separation of oil vapour, both modified membranes can effectively increase the gas permeabilities and selectivities. The main mechanism governing gas transport in the MCM-41-modified membrane is Knudsen diffusion, so the selectivity for small molecules is improved more significantly. By contrast, the dissolution-diffusion mechanism is dominant in the Silicalite-1-modified membranes, which considerably increases the selectivity for large molecules.

Micromechanism Study of Molecular Compatibility of PVDF/PEI Blend Membrane.

In this paper, the compatibility of polyetherimide (PEI) with different contents as a high-performance copolymer and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) was studied, and 5%-20% PEI was prepared by the non-solvent-induced phase inversion method. The compatibility of PVDF and PEI was evaluated by analyzing the physical structure and properties of the blend membrane, the microstructure, the glass transition temperature Tg, the enthalpy, and the mechanism of the polymer blend enthalpy change. The results show that the blend membranes have -NH and C=O-N binding energies at X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), which preliminarily proves that fluorine-amine bonds are formed between the polymers, and new spectra appeared by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) peaks, which further proves that the two have the formation of fluorine-amine bonds, the Tg and enthalpy of the mixed membrane was increased, and a scanning electron microscope (SEM) observed that the membrane pores changed from finger-like pores to sponge-like macropores. When the content of PEI is 15%, the performance of the blended membrane is the best, the water contact angle increases to 58.5°, the porosity increases to 17.33%, the maximum force increases to 8.04 N, and the elongation at break decreases to 24.26%, the pure water flux is 1870.292 L/m2·h, and the oil rejection is 87%. In addition, the enthalpy change of polymer blending further proves that PEI and PVDF are compatible systems and have a good performance improvement for PVDF.

Molecular Compatibility and Hydrogen Bonding Mechanism of PES/PEI Blends.

The development of high-performance polymer membranes has sparked a lot of attention in recent years. Polymer blending is a potential method of modification. A limitation, however, is the compatibility of blends at the molecular level. In this investigation, polyethersulfone/polyetherimide hollow fiber membranes were prepared by the solution blending method. Compatibility, hydrogen bonding, crystallinity, microstructure, hydrophilicity, mechanical properties, and transmissibility of blended membranes were also characterized. The compatibility and hydrogen bonding action of the two components were confirmed by DSC, FTIR, XPS, and XRD. The structure exhibits a C-H···O interaction motif with the sulfone group acting as a hydrogen bond acceptor from a methyl C-H donor. The π-π stacking between the two polymers arranged molecules more orderly, resulting in enhanced intermolecular interactions. Compared to polyethersulfone hollow fiber membranes, the hydrophilic, mechanical properties, and rejection rate of the blended membranes are more effectively enhanced. Self-assembly of the host polymer with a polymer capable of forming hydrogen bonds to construct controllable blends is a crucial and proven method.

Graphene Oxide Modified Polyamide 66 Ultrafiltration Membranes with Enhanced Anti-Fouling Performance.

Improving the contamination resistance of membranes is one of the most effective ways to address the short service life of membranes. While preparing the membrane system structure, doping nanoparticles into the polymer matrix is beneficial to the preparation of high-performance membranes. To develop a new structure for membrane contamination protection, in this study, a novel asymmetric polyamide 66 composite ultrafiltration (UF) membrane was fabricated by incorporating different masses (ranging from zero to 0.5 wt.%) of graphene oxide (GO) into the polyamide 66 microporous substrate, using formic acid and propylene carbonate as solvents. The effects of GO doping on the morphology, microporous structure and surface of ultrafiltration membranes were investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), integrated thermal analysis (DSC) and contact angle (CA). In addition, pure water flux, bovine serum albumin (BSA) rejection and contamination resistance were measured to evaluate the filtration performance of different membranes. The overall performance of all the modified membranes was improved compared to pure membranes. The results of contact angle and permeation experiments showed that the addition of GO improved the hydrophilicity of the membrane, but reduced the permeability of the membrane. The minimum flux was only 3.5 L/m2·h, but the rejection rate was 92.5%. Most noteworthy was the fact that GO further enhanced the anti-pollution performance of the membranes and achieved a remarkable performance of 91.32% when the GO content was 0.5 wt.%, which was 1.36 times higher than that of the pure membrane. Therefore, optimal performance was achieved. Furthermore, the UF membrane made of composite substrate offers a promising solution for the development of long-life ultrafiltration membranes with better stability, high-cost efficiency and adequate chemical durability.

Axial Crystal Growth Evolution and Crystallization Characteristics of Bi-Continuous Polyamide 66 Membranes Prepared via the Cold Non-Solvent-Induced Phase Separation Technique.

Polyamide 66 microporous membranes were prepared by cold non-solvent-induced phase separation using polyamide 66-formic acid-propylene carbonate as a ternary membrane-forming system. The formed membranes exhibited a special bicontinuous structure consisting of interglued spherical crystals or interlocked bundles of microcrystalline aggregates. The variation of the microporous structure under the influence of preparation conditions, solvent, aging time, and polymer concentration affects the comprehensive performance of the membranes. For example, the cold-induced operation and the use of different membrane-forming solvents contributed to the crystallization of polyamide 66, resulting in an increased contact angle of polyamide 66 membranes, obtaining a high resistance to contamination of up to 73.5%. Moreover, the formed membranes still have high mechanical strength.