Amphiphobic PTFE membrane as functional covering membrane to hinder ammonia emission during the composting process

Abstract

Composting is a process of converting potentially harmful organic matter into harmless organic fertilizer through microbial fermentation. This process enables the rational use of resources and represents an embraced technology marked with sustainable development features. Hindering ammonia emissions during composting is vital, as ammonia is a valuable resource and harmful if emitted excessively. Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membranes are often used as functional covering membranes to prevent ammonia produced by composting from releasing due to its hydrophobicity. However, they are susceptible to oily aerosols in oily composting, which affects microbial decomposition in aerobic composting. Thus, the development of amphiphobic PTFE membrane is necessary and meaningful. For the amphiphobic PTFE membrane, an important issue is the amphiphobic stability of the membrane, especially in the special alkaline environment of composting. Herein, we suggest the use of the polymer to wrap around nanoparticles and PTFE membrane fibers to prepare stable amphiphobic membranes as functional covering membranes for oil-containing composting. Poly(methyl-3,3,3-trifluoropropylsiloxane) (PTFPMS) and 1H, 1H, 2H, 2H-perfluorodecyltrichlorosilane (PFTS) entangled with each other and then wrapped the nanoparticles and membrane fibers to form stable amphiphobic membranes with high roughness and low surface energy. The prepared membrane had high liquid repellency to water (～152.8°), diiodomethane (～127.5°), and n-hexadecane (～127.0°). This membrane also possessed a high anti-oil fouling. Moreover, the membrane amphiphobicity exhibited a high stability. This is attributed to the stable fixation of nanoparticles on PTFE membrane fibers with PFTS/PTFPMS. Therefore, the amphiphobicity of the membrane was not affected by ammonia. As for the ammonia filtration efficiency, the amphiphobic membrane had a filtration efficiency of 77.4 % within 10 min, an increase of 6.8 % compared to the PTFE membrane, demonstrating the potential of the membrane we developed toward hindering ammonia emission. This work provides a new way of developing high-performance membrane for the oily composting process.