Abstract
Novel poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) hollow fiber membranes were successfully fabricated by electrospinning, with ultrafine fibrous PTFE membranes as separation layers, while a porous glassfiber braided tube served as the supporting matrix. During this process, PTFE/poly(vinylalcohol) (PVA) ultrafine fibrous membranes were electrospun while covering the porous glassfiber braided tube; then, the nascent PTFE/PVA hollow fiber membrane was obtained. In the following sintering process, the spinning carrier PVA decomposed; meanwhile, the ultrafine fibrous PTFE membrane shrank inward so as to further integrate with the supporting matrix. Therefore, the ultrafine fibrous PTFE membranes had excellent interface bonding strength with the supporting matrix. Moreover, the obtained ultrafine fibrous PTFE hollow fiber membrane exhibited superior performances in terms of strong hydrophobicity (CA > 140°), high porosity (>70%), and sharp pore size distribution. The comprehensive properties indicated that the ultrafine fibrous PTFE hollow fiber membranes could have potentially useful applications in membrane contactors (MC), especially membrane distillation (MD) in harsh water environments.
Highlights
Poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) is a type of high-performance perfluoropolymer with a unique combination of outstanding chemical resistance, excellent thermal stability, strong hydrophobicity, exceedingly good antifouling property, and so on [1]
Based on our previous work, we reported a novel method of fabricating ultrafine fibrous PTFE hollow fiber membranes
The porous glassfiber braided tube used as the supporting matrix of the ultrafine fibrous PTFE hollow fiber membrane provided high mechanical strength and pressure resistance for long-term running in the membrane distillation (MD) process, especially the vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) process
Summary
Poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) is a type of high-performance perfluoropolymer with a unique combination of outstanding chemical resistance, excellent thermal stability, strong hydrophobicity, exceedingly good antifouling property, and so on [1]. Electrospinning has proven to be an effective, straightforward, convenient, and versatile technology to synthesize continuous submicron structures from a huge range of materials [16,17] It can produce highly porous nonwoven filtration media with a high specific surface area and a compact structure [18]. Xiong et al [8] reported a groundbreaking work in which fibrous PTFE membranes were fabricated by blending poly(vinylalcohol) (PVA) into a PTFE emulsion through electrospinning and sintering, and Chuyang Y. We fabricated ultrafine fibrous PTFE flat-sheet membranes by sintering electrospun PTFE/poly(vinylalcohol) (PVA) ultrafine fibrous membranes, and their performance in the application of vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) was investigated [20,21]. The performances of the PTFE hollow fiber membrane in terms of hydrophobicity, porosity, permeability, and so on were investigated respectively
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