Hydrophilic modification of polyacrylonitrile membranes by oxyfluorination

The surface of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) membranes was modified by oxyfluorination with various conditions to improve its wettability. The membranes were characterized in terms of morphology, structure, hydrophilicity, and membrane performance. The properties and functional groups on the surface of PAN membranes were investigated by contact angle, SEM, ATR-IR and XPS. And permeability of PAN membranes was compared by permeating pure water flux through membrane surface under 100, 150 and 200 kPa pressure. Oxyfluorination introduced oxygen contained functional groups such as the carboxylic acid groups that help increment of wettability on the surface of PAN membrane. Water flux of oxyfluorinated PAN UF membrane increased 20% at pure water permeation pressure 200 kPa compared to that of untreated PAN UF membrane. (C) 2009 The Korean Society of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.