The investigation of mechanical characteristics of pvdf membrane for membrane distillation Mirzaei Zahra, Rezvani Sina, Riahi Ahmad, Dadras Jasmin* Department of Chemistry, Payam Noor University, Tehran, Iran *Corresponding Author E-mail: dadras@chemhitech.ir
Online published on 16 September, 2020. Abstract Membrane distillation (MD) is one of the most applicable processes for purifying water by the hydrophobic membrane. Nanocomposite membranes have good potential in membrane process due to their extraordinary properties. In this study, PVDF flat-sheet membranes were produced by dry-wet phase inversion (DIPS) technique via dual coagulation bath. Also, the nanocomposite membranes were modified by hydrophobic SiO2 nanoparticles. The pore size and percentages of macro-voids of fabricated membranes were recognized by secondary electron microscope (SEM) and mechanical properties were elicited via tensile test. As a result, the pore size and percentages of macro-voids increased for 3wt% SiO2 and then decreased when 6wt% SiO2 were embedded. The percentages of macro-voids for nanocomposite membranes were higher than the percentages of macro-voids for the neat membrane. The decrease in pore size should be related to agglomeration. Furthermore, the tensile strength increased by adding the SiO2 nanoparticles and as a consequence, the elongation at break descended. Top Keywords PVDF nanocomposite membrane, Hydrophilic SiO2 nanoparticles, Membrane distillation, Membrane structure, Mechanical properties. Top |