• Membrane Journal
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.104-112
• /
• 2012

Chemically stable Polyvinylidene fluoride-hexa-fluoropropane (PVDF-HFP) copolymer asymmetric membranes were prepared by the conventional phase inversion process, using Dimethyacetamide (DMAc) as a solvent and water as a non-solvent. To control the pore size and porosity of the PVDF-HFP membranes, tetra-ethoxysilane (TEOS) was used as a pore-forming agent. The prepared membranes were characterized, using several analytical methods such as Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Thermo-gravimetric analyzer (TGA), Field Emission Scanning Electronic Microscopy (FESEM). TEOS turned out to increase porosity and make homogeneous pores on the membranes. Depending on the composition of the dope solutions, the pore size was ranged from 0.1 to 1.0 ${\mu}m$. The flux of the PVDF-HFP membranes prepared by using TEOS as a pore forming agent was increased substantially without much decrease in the rejection. When 15 wt% PVDF-HFP solution was blended with 13 wt% TEOS solution at composition ratio of 70/30 in wt%, the water flux at 2 bars was about 2 $m^3/m^2day$.