Investigating the wetting behavior of polypropylene hydrophobic membrane using CF4 plasma treatment

Abstract

Membrane wetting by liquid absorbents limits the performance of membrane contactor, which shows the necessity of using superhydrophobic membranes in these systems. In recent years, the use of plasma irradiation to modify polymer membranes has received much attention from researchers. In this experimental research, the polypropylene membrane surface was irradiated with CF4 plasma at different times to reduce the membrane wetting and create a superhydrophobic surface. The modified membranes were evaluated in terms of measurements of roughness and morphology, chemical properties, and hydrophilicity. In the results of the AFM * and SEM † tests, the structural difference caused by the surface modification and the resulting roughness can be well observed. The FTIR ‡ results showed the creation of new functional groups due to the surface modification process. The physicochemical changes of the modified surface led to an increase in the CA § to 166∘. Finally, the performance of modified membranes was evaluated for protein adsorption, and the results indicated a significant decrease in adsorption for modified superhydrophobic membranes compared to the control membrane. Achieving superhydrophobic PP membranes by plasma treatment without damaging the physical structure of these membranes is a significant result that is simply not achieved by other methods because it causes the membrane tissue to disintegrate. It has also been shown that the conditions of plasma application play a decisive role in the hydrophobicity of modified surfaces.