Properties of Polysulphones Synthetized for Forming of Porous Hollow-Fiber Membranes

Abstract

For the first time, for the problem of hollow fiber membranes spinning, polysulfones in a wide range of molecular weights (42 000–184 000 g/mol) were synthesized in such aprotic dipolar solvents as dimethylacetamide, N-methyl-2-pyrollidone, and dimethyl sulfoxide. The dependence of the thermal and mechanical properties of polysulfones on molecular weight characteristics has been studied. A comparison of the mechanical properties of the synthesized PSF, commercial PSF Ultrason S 6010 (BASF, Germany) and PSF-150 (JSC Institute of Plastics, Russia) showed that the synthesized polymers are not inferior to commercial analogues. Some synthesized polymers surpass commercial PSF in terms of elasticity and strength modulus. Based on the study of the spinning solutions dynamic viscosity, promising PSF samples were selected for the formation of porous hollow fiber supports. It was found that hollow-fiber porous support from a PSF sample with a molecular weight of 110 000 g/mol have a high nitrogen permeability of 47.5 m3/m2 · h · bar. Such supports are promising for casting highly permeable composite membranes with a thin selective layer.