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, TorOve Leiknes

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

330 Scopus citations

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 = 1,285mm). 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 Lm-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 (US)
Pages (from-to)57-67
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of Membrane Science
Volume525
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 22 2016

Bibliographical note

KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01
Acknowledgements: This work was supported by City University of Hong Kong under its Start-up Grant for new faculty (Project number: 7200447) and the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong for Early Career Scheme (Project number: 9048074).

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