• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.237-245
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• 2020

The effects of the mixed two solvents, Dimethylacetamide (DMAc) and Dimethylformamide (DMF), and Polyethylene glycol (PEG) and Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as additives on performance of Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes were studied. Initially, PEG200 was used as a primary additive at fixed percentage of 5% wt. PVP was then blended with PEG200 in different concentrations. PVDF and DMAc were used as polymer and solvent in the casting solutions, respectively. To control the diffusion rate of PVP in the presence of PEG200 and PVP blend, mixtures of DMAc and DMF were used as the mixed solvent in the casting solutions. Asymmetric PVDF membranes were prepared via phase inversion process in a water bath and the effects of two additives and two solvents on the membrane morphology, pure water flux (PWF), hydrophilicity and rejection (R) were investigated. Attenuated Total Reflection Fourier Transform Infrared Spectra (ATR-FTIR) analysis was used to show the residual PVP on the surface of the membranes. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) was utilized to determine roughness of membrane surface. The use of mixed solvents in the casting solution resulted in reduction of PVP diffusion rate and increment of PEG diffusion rate. Eventually, PWF and R values reduced, while porosity and hydrophilicity increased.

• Korean Membrane Journal
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.57-63
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• 2007

Amphiphilic graft copolymer from poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) was synthesized using atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) for composite nanofiltration membranes. Direct initiation of the secondary fluorinated site of PVDF facilitates grafting of tert-butyl methacrylate (tBMA). Amphiphilic PVDF-g-PMAA graft copolymer with a 51:49 wt ratio was obtained by hydrolyzing poly(tert-butyl methacrylate) (PtBMA) to poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA). Wide angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) confirmed the decrease of crystallinity of PVDF upon graft copolymerization. Composite nanofiltration membranes were prepared from PVDF-g-PMAA as a top layer coated onto PVDF ultrafiltration (UF) support membrane. The morphology and hydrophilicity of membranes were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and contact angle measurement. The rejections of composite membranes were 80.2% for $Na_2SO_4$ and 28.4% for NaCl, and the solution flux were 9.5 and $14.5\;L/m^2\;h$ at 1.0 MPa pressure.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.417-431
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• 2016

Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) powder was treated with aqueous sodium hydroxide to obtain partially defluorinated fluoropolymers with expected properties such as improving hydrophilicity and fouling resistance. Raman spectrum and FT-IR results confirmed the existence of conjugated carbon double bonds after alkaline treatment. As the concentration increased, the degree of defluorination increased. The morphology and structure of membranes were examined. The permeation performance was investigated. The results showed that membrane's hydrophilicity increased with increase of the percentage of alkaline treated PVDF powder. Moreover, in terms of the water contact angle, it decreased from $92^{\circ}$ to a minimum of $68^{\circ}$; while water up take increased from 128 to 138%. Fluxof pure water and the cleaning efficiency increased with the increase of alkaline treated PVDF powder. The fouling potential also decreased with the increase of the percentage of alkaline treated PVDF powder. The reason that makes blending PVDF show different characteristics because of partial defluorination, which led the formation of conjugated C = C bonds and the inclusion of oxygen functionalities. The polyene structure followed by hydroxide attack to yield hydroxyl and carbonyl groups. Therefore, the hydrophilicity of blending membrane was improved. The SEM and porosity measurements showed that no obvious variations of the pore dimensions and structures for blend membranes were observed. Mechanical tests suggest that the high content of the alkaline treated PVDF result in membranes with less tolerance of tensile stress and higher brittleness. TGA results exhibited that the blend of alkaline treated PVDF did not change membrane thermal stability.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.206-213
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• 2008

Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) membrane surfaces were modified using surface modifying macromolecules (SMMs). The Zonyl BA-L as SMM was used and the various PVDF membranes containing 0 to 2 wt% SMM were prepared. The resulting membranes were characterized through SEM, contact angle measurements and pervaporation separation of water-ethanol system. SMM layers were created in the surface regions of PVDF membranes by SEM images and the contact angles were increased more than untreated PVDF membranes. The pervaporation was carried out at 50, 60 and $70^{\circ}C$, and the PVDF membranes containing 1 and 2 wt% SMM were used for 10, 20, 50 wt% water in the binary water/ethanol mixtures and pure water. PVDF/2 wt% Zrlnyl BA-L membrane showed the permeability 5.3 $g/m^2hr$ and separation factor 287 at $50^{\circ}C$ for water : ethanol = 10 : 50 solution.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.423.1-423.1
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• 2016

Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) has drawn much attention due to its many advantages. PVDF shows high mechanical strength and flexibility, thermal stability, and good piezoelectricity enabling its application to various fields such as sensors, actuators, and energy transducers. Further studies have been conducted on PVDF in the form of thin films. The thin films exhibit different ionic conductivity according to the number of pores within the film, letting these films to be applied as electrolytes or separators of batteries. Porous PVDF membranes are also easily processed, usually made by using electrospinning. However, a large portion of researches were conducted using PVDF membranes produced by far field electrospinning, which is not a well-controlled experimental method. In this paper, we use near field electrospinning (NFES) process for more controlled, small-scaled, mesh type PVDF structures of nano to micro fibers fabricated by controlling process parameters and investigate the properties of such membranous structures. These membranes vary according to geometrical shape, pore density, and fiber thickness. We then measured the mechanical strength and piezoelectric characteristic of the structures. With various geometries in the fiber structures and various scales in the fibers, these types of structures can potentially lead to broader applications for stretchable electronics and dielectric electro active polymers.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.434-442
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• 2021

Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) membrane has a good membrane durability because of its high mechanical resistance, thermal and chemical stability. However, the strong hydrophobic property of PVDF membrane can induce a low water permeability and easy fouling by proteins and organic matters. In order to improve the anti-fouling properties of PVDF membrane, the PVDF mixed matrix asymmetric membranes impregnated with biofunctional material 𝛽-cyclodextrin (𝛽-CD) in the membrane structure were prepared by phase inversion method. The membrane filtration experiments of pure water and BSA solution were performed using the PVDF/𝛽-CD mixed matrix asymmetric membranes prepared according to the 𝛽-CD contents. The experiments showed that the introduction of 𝛽-CD into the PVDF polymer matrix contributed to increase in the hydrophilic property of the PVDF membranes, and this led to the reduction of contact angles and improvement of anti-fouling properties. The PVDF/𝛽-CD membrane which was prepared using the dope solution with a 2 wt% 𝛽-CD content represented 64 L/m²·h of pure water flux, 95% of BSA rejection and maximum 80% of flux enhancements compared to flux results of the pristine PVDF membrane.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.159-166
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• 2020

In this study, the performance and antifouling properties of polysulfone (PSf) and polyvinylidene fluoride/polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVDF/PVP) membranes in a membrane bioreactor (MBR) were investigated. The membranes were prepared via phase inversion method, and then characterized by a set of analyses including contact angle, porosity and water flux and applied in a lab-scale MBR system. Soluble microbial product (SMP), extracellular polymeric substance (EPS), FTIR, gel permission chromatography (GPC) and particle size distribution (PSD) analyses were also carried out for MBR system. The results showed that the MBR with PSf membrane had higher hydrophobic organic compounds which resulted in formation of larger flocs in MBR. However, in this MBR had high compressibility coefficient of cake layer was higher (n=0.91) compared to MBR with PVDF/PVP membrane (n=0.8); hence, the fouling was more profound. GPC analysis revealed that compounds with molecular weight lower than 2 kDa are more formed on PSf membrane more than PVDF/PVP membrane. The results of FTIR analysis confirmed the presence of polysaccharide and protein compounds on the cake layer of both membranes which was in good agreement with EPS analysis. In addition, the results showed that their concentration was higher for the cake on PSf membrane.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.216-222
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• 2015

The method measuring LEP (liquid entry pressure) was optimized to evaluate the wettabilities of hydrophobic membranes which might affect long-term durability of membrane in MD (membrane distillation) process. Conductivity of the permeate was monitored to measure the LEPs of PE (polyethylene) and PVDF (polyvinylidene di-fluoride) hollow fiber membranes from highly concentrated synthetic feed water of 20 wt% NaCl. Holding time over 5 min and the ratio of membrane area to the tank volume more than $10m^2/m^3$ were required to ensure LEP value.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.287-298
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• 2019

Lotus leaf has a special dual micro and nano surface structure which gives its highly hydrophobic surface characteristics and so-called self cleaning effect. In order to endow PVDF hollow fiber membrane with this special structure and improve the hydrophobicity of membrane surface, PVDF hollow fiber composite membranes was obtained through the immersion coating of poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) dilute solution on the outside surface of PVDF support membrane. The prepared PVDF composite membranes were used in the vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) for the desalination. The effects of PVDF-HFP dilute solution concentration in the dope solution and coating time on VMD separation performance was studied. Membranes were characterized by SEM, WCA measurement, porosity, and liquid entry pressure of water. VMD test was carried out using $35g{\cdot}L^{-1}$ NaCl aqueous solution as the feed solution at feed temperature of $30^{\circ}C$ and the permeate pressure of 31.3 kPa. The vapour flux reached a maximum when PVDF-HFP concentration in the dilute solution was 5 wt% and the coating time was kept in the range of 10-60 s. This was attributed to the well configuration of micro-nano rods which was similar with the dual micro-nano structure on the lotus leaf. Compared with the original PVDF membrane, the salt rejection can be well maintained which was greater than 99.99 % meanwhile permeation water conductivity was kept at a low value of $7-9{\mu}S{\cdot}cm^{-1}$ during the continuous testing for 360 h.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.221-231
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• 2018

A new procedure to produce poly(vinylidene fluoride)/boron nitride hybrid membrane is presented for application in membrane distillation (MD) process. The influence of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) incorporation on the performance of the polymeric membranes is studied through the present investigation. For this aim, h-BN nanopowders were successfully synthesized using the simple chemical vapor deposition (CVD) route and subsequent solvent treatments. The resulting h-BN nanosheets were blended with poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) solution. Then, the prepared composite solution was subjected to phase inversion process to obtain PVDF/h-BN hybrid membranes. Various examinations such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), wettability, permeation flux, mechanical strength and liquid entry pressure (LEP) measurements are performed to evaluate the prepared membrane. Moreover, Air gap membrane distillation (AGMD) experiments were carried out to investigate the salt rejection performance and the durability of membranes. The results show that our hybrid PVDF/h-BN membrane presents higher water permeation flux (${\sim}18kg/m^2h$) compared to pristine PVDF membrane. In addition, the experimental data confirms that the prepared nanocomposite membrane is hydrophobic (water contact angle: ${\sim}103^{\circ}$), has a porous skin layer (>85%), as well competitive fouling resistance and operational durability. Furthermore, the total salt rejection efficiency was obtained for PVDF/h-BN membrane. The results prove that the novel PVDF/h-BN membrane can be easily synthesized and applied in MD process for salt rejection purposes.