Abstract
ABSTRACTNumerous polypropylene hollow fiber microfiltration membrane modules were severely degraded after utilization as pretreatment in a military water purification system. To determine the plausible causes of degradation, thermal, chemical, and mechanical material properties were initially evaluated by using differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, 13C solid‐state nuclear magnetic resonance, attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscopy, and a tensile strength material testing system. The evaluation implied oxidation during the usage or storage of the samples. Protocols using more specialized techniques, micro‐Raman spectroscopy along with energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy and an atomic force microscope‐based nano‐thermal analysis, were developed to examine the chemical and thermal properties along the cross‐section of the samples at the micron and submicron‐scale. These results indicated that the degradation mainly took place at the outer and inner boundaries of the samples. Pristine samples exposed to several plausibly harsh environments did not evidence the same level of mechanical failure, but a few circumstances had similar test responses, leading to a hypothesis of high oxidative stress as the main failure etiology versus a slowly evolving one. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015, 132, 41553.
Published Version
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