Fabrication of polysulfone asymmetric hollow‐fiber membranes by coextrusion through a triple‐orifice spinneret

Polysulfone (PSf) asymmetric hollow‐fiber membranes, which have a dense outer layer but a loose inner layer, were tentatively fabricated by coextrusion through a triple‐orifice spinneret and a dry/wet‐phase inversion process. Two simple polymer dopes were tailored, respectively, for the dense outer layer and the porous inner layer according to the principles of the phase‐inversion process. By adjusting the ratio of the inner/outer extrusion rate, the hollow‐fiber membranes with various thicknesses of outer layers were achieved. The morphology of the hollow‐fiber membranes was exhibited and the processing conditions and the water permeability of the membrane were investigated. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 94: 259–266, 2004     

Study on volume ratio and plasticizer screening of free coating membranes composed of ethyl cellulose and chitosan

The aim of this study was to optimize the formula of free blended coating membrane of ethyl cellulose (EC) and chitosan (CS), including their suitable ratio range and the best plasticizer used. The dry films were produced by a casting/solvent evaporation method, with different volume ratio of EC and CS solution plasticized by various plasticizers, respectively. The wet films were prepared by immersing dry films in pH 6.8 phosphate buffer saline (PBS) for 24 h. The promising ratio range of EC/CS was below 20/5 or 20/6 with various plasticizer, which was determined by comparing the viscosity of the blended solutions and the morphology of the blended films. The efficiency of plasticization was evaluated by measuring glass transition temperature (T_g). All the testing plasticizers have good compatibility with EC or CS and dibutyl phthalate (DBP) have the strongest efficiency inducing the lowest T_g (39.9°C) of the film. Mechanical properties were evaluated by the ratio of tensile strength (T) to elastic modulus (E). In the wet state, the films with DBP had the highest T/E value (1.2). The results of leaching of plasticizers also verified that DBP was the most stable plasticizer in the films. The release rates of tetramethylpyrazine phosphate (TMPP) through the pellets coated with the blended films of EC/CS (20 : 6 v/v) plasticized by various plasticizers showed that the more water‐soluble the plasticizer was, the more quickly TMPP dissolved from the coated pellets, which further indicated that the water‐insoluble plasticizers (such as DBP) could be more applicable to keep the sustained or controlled release property of the blended films in wet state. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 100: 1932–1939, 2006     

Novel fixed‐carrier membranes for CO2 separation

A new membrane material having two kinds of CO₂ carriers was obtained. Composite membranes were prepared with the material and support membranes. The facilitated transport of CO₂ through these membranes was performed with pure CH₄ and CO₂ as well as CH₄/CO₂ mixtures containing 50 vol % CO₂. The results show that the membranes possess better CO₂ permeance than that of other fixed carrier membranes reported in the literature. In the measurements with pure gases, at 26°C, 0.013 atm of CO₂ pressure, the membrane with polysulfone support displays a CO₂ permeance of 7.93 × 10^?4 cm³ /cm² s cmHg and CO₂/CH₄ ideal selectivity of 212.1. In the measurements with mixed gases, at 26°C, 0.016 atm of CO₂ partial pressure, the membrane displays a CO₂ permeance of 1.69 × 10^?4 cm³ /cm² s cmHg and CO₂/CH₄ selectivity of 48.1. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 86: 2222–2226, 2002     

Adsorption and desorption properties of cationic polyethylene film gels to organic anions and their regeneration

An investigation was undertaken on the adsorption and desorption properties of 2‐(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate grafted polyethylene (PE‐g‐PDMAEMA) films to anionic dye anions with one to three sulfonic groups in response to pH and temperature changes. The amounts of dye anions adsorbed on the PE‐g‐PDMAEMA films passed through the maximum values at about pH 3 because of an increase in the protonation of dimethylamino groups caused by a decrease in the pH value. The amounts of adsorbed dye anions decreased below pH 3 because the ionic strength increased with the addition of HCl to adjust the initial pH values of the aqueous dye solutions. The amounts of adsorbed dye anions decreased with an increase in the number of sulfonic groups in the dye molecules at the same pH value because electrostatic repulsion was generated between free sulfonic groups of the dye anions adsorbed onto the PE‐g‐PDMAEMA films and free dye anions in the medium. A large number of dye anions adsorbed were desorbed from the PE‐g‐PDMAEMA film with initial pH values above 11.0. The cyclic processes of adsorption at pH 3.0 and desorption at pH 11.0 were repeated without considerable fatigue. The PE‐g‐PDMAEMA films showed practically regenerative adsorption and desorption behavior in response to the pH changes. In addition, when the dye‐anion‐adsorbed PE‐g‐PDMAEMA films were alternately immersed in water at two different temperatures, dye anions were desorbed in water at higher temperatures without any chemical agents because of the deprotonation of dimethylamino groups and thermosensitive contraction of grafted PDMAEMA chains. These results indicate that PE‐g‐PDMAEMA films can be applied as regenerative ion‐exchange membranes for adsorption and desorption processes of anionic compounds in response to the pH and temperature. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 99: 381–391, 2006     

Preparation and characterization of linear low‐density polyethylene/low‐density polyethylene/TiO2 membranes

Because of their special functions, the application of nanoscale powders has recently attracted both industrial and theoretical interest. In this study, nanoscale TiO₂, which exhibited a special UV absorption and consequent antibacterial function, was added to a low‐density polyethylene/linear low‐density polyethylene hybrid by melt compounding to yield functional composite membranes. TiO₂ exhibited an apparent induced nucleation effect on the crystallization of polyethylene, and the size of the crystallites decreased while the number increaed with the introduction of TiO₂; however, the crystallinity of polyethylene changed little. Also, TiO₂ exhibited an ideal dispersion in the membrane with an average size less than 100 nm, and this excellent dispersion provided the membranes extra UV absorption; moreover, the transparency of the membranes was maintained to satisfy common requirements. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 98: 216–221, 2005     

Properties of modified polyacrylonitrile membranes prepared by copolymerization with hydrophilic monomers for water–ethanol mixture separation

A new kind of terpolymer membrane was employed to separate a permselective water–alcohol mixture. This membrane was prepared via the copolymerization of acrylonitrile, sodium salt styrene sulfonic acid (SStSA), and hydroxyethyl methacrylate in dimethylsulfoxide with azobisisobutyronitrile as an initiator. The reaction mechanism, resultant structure, and polymer composition were confirmed by IR and elemental analysis. The effects of the feed composition on the polymer composition, mechanical properties, thermal properties, and degree of swelling were investigated. It was found that water permeated through the membrane preferentially in a water/alcohol system. The flux increased with the increase of SStSA, but the separation factor decreased drastically with higher SStSA. For a 50 wt % water–ethanol mixture, a flux of 0.65 kg/m² h and a separation factor of 212 were obtained at 30°C when the membrane containing the highest SStSA content was used. The capacities of the metal ions absorbed by the membranes were investigated in the study. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 90: 244–250, 2003     

Improvement in polyetherimide gas separation membranes through the incorporation of nanostructured metal complexes

Polyetherimide (PEI) gas separation membranes were tailored, at the molecular scale, by the incorporation of nanostructured metallic complexes into the PEI network. The influence of these additives on the micropore size distributions of the membranes produced and on their performance for oxygen/nitrogen separation was investigated. Changing the metal within the same ligand had a significant influence on the microporosity and gas separation performance of these membranes. Magnesium (II) phathalocyanine (MgPc) in PEI membranes was found to be an excellent additive to increase membrane performance for air separation. The performance of these membranes increases with increasing additive concentrations. Membranes with this additive also exhibit an improved stability as determined through the annealing process. Annealing these membranes caused a slight decrease in their gas permeance and total micropore volume but a significant increase in their gas selectivity. The results show that the properties of the nanophase additive and nanophase-polymer interactions play a pivotal role in stabilizing and determining membrane performance for air separation.     

×Synergistic action of non-solvent induced phase separation in preparation of poly（vinyl butyral） hollow fiber membrane via thermally induced phase separation

A systematic study of air gap distance effects on the structure and properties of poly（vinyl butyral） hollow fiber membrane via thermally induced phase separation （TIPS） has been carried out. The results show that the hollow fiber membrane prepared at air gap zero has no skin layer; the pore size near the outer surface is larger than that near the inner surface; and the special pore channel-like structure near the outer surface is formed, which is quite different with the typical sponge-like structure caused by TIPS and the finger-like structure caused by non-solvent induced phase separation （NIPS）, because of the synergistic action of non-solvent induced phase separation at air gap zero. The pore size gradually decreases from outer surface layer to the intermediate layer, but increases gradually from intermediate layer to the inner surface layer. With the increase of air gap distance, the pore size near the outer surface gets smaller and a dense skin layer is formed, and the pore size gradually increases from the outer surface layer to the inner surface layer. Water permeability of the hollow fiber membrane decreases with air gap distance, the water permeability decreases sharply from 45.50× 10^-7 to 4.52× 10^-7 m^3/（m^2-s.kPa） as air gap increases from 0 to 10 mm at take-up speed of 0.236 m/s, further decreases from 4.52×10^-7 to 1.00×10 ^-8m^3/（m^2.s·kPa） as the air gap increases from 10 to 40 mm. Both the breaking strength and the elongation increase with the increase of air gap distance. The breaking strength increases from 2.25 MPa to 4.19 MPa and the elongation increases from 33.9% to 132.6% as air gap increases from 0 mm to 40 mm at take-up speed 0.236 m/s.     

乙二醇和不同相对分子质量聚乙二醇对聚氨酯多孔膜性能的影响

采用乙二醇和不同相对分子质量的聚乙二醇作为聚氨酯多孔膜的致孔剂,通过对聚氨酯多孔膜的电镜图、透湿性、接触角以及拉伸性能的表征与分析,探究乙二醇和不同分子量聚乙二醇的用量对聚氨酯微孔膜结构和性能的影响。结果表明：采用乙二醇,添加量在50％时,透湿量达到2929 g/（m2· d ）;断裂强力与断裂伸长率分别在5．77 M Pa ,451．3％,说明得到的聚氨酯多孔膜具有较高的透湿量、孔隙率以及较强的拉伸性。     

Comparing the Performance of Organic Solvent Nanofiltration Membranes in Non-Polar Solvents

Organic solvent nanofiltration (OSN) is gradually expanding from academic research to industrial implementation. The need for membranes with low and sharp molecular weight cutoffs that are able to operate under aggressive OSN conditions is increasing. However, the lack of comparable and uniform performance data frustrates the screening and membrane selection for processes. Here, a collaboration is presented between several academic and industrial partners analyzing the separation performance of 10 different membranes using three model process mixtures. Membrane materials range from classic polymeric and thin film composites (TFCs) to hybrid ceramic types. The model solutions were chosen to mimic cases relevant to today's industrial use: relatively low molar mass solutes (330–550 Da) in n-heptane, toluene, and anisole.