Journal
DESALINATION
Volume 307, Issue -, Pages 26-33Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.desal.2012.07.036
Keywords
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC); Ultrafiltration membrane; Pluronic F 127; Antifouling; Hydrophilicity
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Funding
- Litree Water Purification Company
- George Research Alliance
- Hightower Chair
- Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems
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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 F127 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. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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