A Study of Hydrophobic Electrospun Membrane Applied in Seawater Desalination by Membrane Distillation

In this study, two composite nanofibrous membranes of Polyvinylidenefluoride (PVDF) and [poly(vinylidenefluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene)] (PVDF-co-HFP) prepared by the electrospinning process were employed in a direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) system. We changed the pump flow rate and temperature difference to examine their effects on permeate flux and salt rejection. The SEM observations, porosity analyzer technique, and contact angle measurement indicated the nanobrous membrane with an average fiber diameter of 170 nm and maximum pore diameter distribution of 0.3 mu m is the best membrane for the DCMD system. However, the ability of the hydrophobic membrane affects the filtration efficiency of the DCMD system. The contact angle of the PVDF-HFP electrospun membrane (128 degrees) shows better hydrophobic than the PVDF electrospun membrane (125 degrees). From the experiment of 12 hours, the salt rejection of PVDF-HFP (99.9901 %) was better than that of PVDF composite membrane (99.9888 %) and was almost the same as that of the PTFE commercial membrane (99.9951 %). In addition, the permeate flux of the PVDF-HFP composite membrane is 4.28 kg/m(2)hr higher than the PTFE commercial membrane.