Development of novel surface modified poly (vinylidene fluoride ‐ co ‐ hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF ‐ HFP) membrane contactor for CO2 absorption

• Main Authors: Fosi, Mohamoud Kofal, Mustafa, Azeman, Ismail, Ahmad Fauzi
• Format: Article
• Published: University of Lagos 2016
• Subjects: TP Chemical technology
• Online Access: http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/68398/; http://jsrad.org/wp-content/2016/Issue%203,%202016/12.pdf
• Institution: Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

The ever increasing industrial activities worldwide are the ma in culprits for the greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) that cause global warming. Various methods were suggested to curb the production of CO2 , and the latest technology is the utilization of the flexibility of membranes in gas-liquid contactors. The principal aim of this study is to fabricate a surface modified poly (vinylide ne fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) by blending surface modifying macromolecules (SMM) in the polymer dope. Lithium chloride ( LiCl) was employed as pore-forming agent. The surface modified PVDF-HFP showed large pore size, higher effective surface porosity and overall porosity, critical water entry pressure and contact angle than plain PVDF-HFP. Moreoever, the surface modified PVDF-HFP showed a maximum CO 2 flux of 6.74 x 10 -4 mol/m 2 .s, which was nearly 38% higher than that of the control plain PVDF-HFP.