The performance of polyvinylidene fluoride - polytetrafluoroethylene nanocomposite distillation membranes: An experimental and numerical study

Abstract

Supported flat sheet polyvinylidene fluoride - polytetrafluoroethylene (PVDF-PTFE) nanocomposite membranes were fabricated for this study using the phase inversion process. Several characterization methods, such as scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, attenuated total reflectance - Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, water contact angle, and liquid entry pressure of water (LEPw) measurements, were carried out on the prepared membranes, and vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) experiments were then applied to test membrane permeabilities. The cooperation of PTFE was demonstrated to have great potential in enhancing the permeate flux of PVDF membranes while maintaining an acceptable LEPw value. At a feed temperature of 30 °C and vacuum pressure 97.54 kPa, the VMD pure water permeates flux of the prepared nanocomposite membrane embedded with 40 wt% PTFE was 5.61 kg/m2·h, while that of pure PVDF membrane was 0.71 kg/m2 h. The salt rejection results of the prepared nanocomposite membranes were all above 99.9%. These results indicate the applicability of the PVDF-PTFE nanocomposite membranes supported on non-woven polyester fiber for desalination.