Unique performance of poly(p-phenylene terephthamide) hollow fiber membranes

Abstract

Poly(p-phenylene terephthamide) (PPTA) hollow fiber membrane with outstanding thermal and chemical stability (endures above 60 °C and almost any organic solvents) has been fabricated by dry–wet spinning method for the first time. The heat and solvent resistance as well as anti-fouling performances was studied in this paper. The properties of thermal stability were characterized by pure water flux, mechanical strength, FTIR, and pore size distribution, and the properties of chemical resistance were characterized by organic solvent flux. The results showed that PPTA hollow fiber membrane was a kind of inner and outer dual-skin layer structure. The flux was stable in hot water and organic solvents, which indicated that the membrane structure hardly changed. The average pore size was slightly increased during high-temperature experiment. Moreover, the properties of anti-fouling were characterized by simulated activated sludge filtration. The fouled PPTA membranes were cleaned by ultrasonic, citric acid, and alkali treatments, and the membrane surface was detected by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The results showed that the effect of the citric acid treatment was more preferable to the other ways, which indicated that the inorganic substance was easily adsorbed on the membrane surface compared with organic substance. Therefore, PPTA hollow fiber membrane exhibited the excellent anti-fouling performance by the reason of strong hydrophilicity and electronegativity.