Low-cost antifouling PVC ultrafiltration membrane fabrication with Pluronic F 127: Effect of additives on properties and performance

TY - JOUR

T1 - Low-cost antifouling PVC ultrafiltration membrane fabrication with Pluronic F 127

T2 - Effect of additives on properties and performance

AU - Liu, Baicang

AU - Chen, Chen

AU - Zhang, Wen

AU - Crittenden, John

AU - Chen, Yongsheng

N1 - Funding Information: The work was supported by the Litree Water Purification Company , the George Research Alliance , the Hightower Chair , and the Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems . We thank Kathryn Jonell for her assistance on editing this article, Kungang Li for his help with AFM operations, Ryan Ravenelle for his help on the equipment setup, Eric Woods for his kind help with liquid nitrogen transfer and SEM training, and Walter Henderson for Thermo K-Alpha XPS training.

PY - 2012/12/3

Y1 - 2012/12/3

N2 - To fabricate low-cost hydrophilic and antifouling ultrafiltration membranes, in this work, we tuned the membrane surface hydrophilicity and porosity by adding different amounts of the amphiphilic copolymer (Pluronic F 127) into polyvinyl chloride (PVC) casting solution. The modified PVC membrane characteristics including oxygen content, morphology and pore size, surface roughness, hydrophilicity, and permeability were characterized using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), contact angle measurement, and flux measurements. With the increase of Pluronic F 127 content from 0 to 10. wt.%, the oxygen content on the membrane surface increased and then reached an asymptote when 8. wt.% or greater Pluronic F 127 was used; the pore size and the pore density both decreased; the membrane surface became more hydrophilic as indicated by the decreasing contact angles; and the flux declined by 30% when Pluronic F 127 reached 10. wt.%. Overall, the modified PVC membrane exhibited excellent antifouling feature even with Pluronic F 127 as low as 2. wt.%. Due to the membrane flux decline at 10. wt.% Pluronic F 127, the optimal addition of Pluronic F 127 was 8. wt.%, which maintained the antifouling feature and high flux.

AB - To fabricate low-cost hydrophilic and antifouling ultrafiltration membranes, in this work, we tuned the membrane surface hydrophilicity and porosity by adding different amounts of the amphiphilic copolymer (Pluronic F 127) into polyvinyl chloride (PVC) casting solution. The modified PVC membrane characteristics including oxygen content, morphology and pore size, surface roughness, hydrophilicity, and permeability were characterized using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), contact angle measurement, and flux measurements. With the increase of Pluronic F 127 content from 0 to 10. wt.%, the oxygen content on the membrane surface increased and then reached an asymptote when 8. wt.% or greater Pluronic F 127 was used; the pore size and the pore density both decreased; the membrane surface became more hydrophilic as indicated by the decreasing contact angles; and the flux declined by 30% when Pluronic F 127 reached 10. wt.%. Overall, the modified PVC membrane exhibited excellent antifouling feature even with Pluronic F 127 as low as 2. wt.%. Due to the membrane flux decline at 10. wt.% Pluronic F 127, the optimal addition of Pluronic F 127 was 8. wt.%, which maintained the antifouling feature and high flux.

KW - Antifouling

KW - Hydrophilicity

KW - Pluronic F 127

KW - Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)

KW - Ultrafiltration membrane

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84867133467

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84867133467#tab=citedBy

U2 - 10.1016/j.desal.2012.07.036

DO - 10.1016/j.desal.2012.07.036

M3 - Article

SN - 0011-9164

VL - 307

SP - 26

EP - 33

JO - Desalination

JF - Desalination

ER -