Fabrication of bioinspired composite nanofiber membranes with robust superhydrophobicity for direct contact membrane distillation

The practical application of membrane distillation (MD) for water purification is hindered by the absence of desirable membranes that can fulfill the special requirements of the MD process. Compared to the membranes fabricated by other methods, nanofiber membranes produced by electrospinning are of...

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Main Authors: Fane, Anthony Gordon, Liao, Yuan, Wang, Rong
Other Authors: School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2014
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Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/105894
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/20947
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-1058942020-09-26T22:02:51Z Fabrication of bioinspired composite nanofiber membranes with robust superhydrophobicity for direct contact membrane distillation Fane, Anthony Gordon Liao, Yuan Wang, Rong School of Civil and Environmental Engineering Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute Singapore Membrane Technology Centre DRNTU::Engineering::Environmental engineering::Water treatment The practical application of membrane distillation (MD) for water purification is hindered by the absence of desirable membranes that can fulfill the special requirements of the MD process. Compared to the membranes fabricated by other methods, nanofiber membranes produced by electrospinning are of great interest due to their high porosity, low tortuosity, large surface pore size, and high surface hydrophobicity. However, the stable performance of the nanofiber membranes in the MD process is still unsatisfactory. Inspired by the unique structure of the lotus leaf, this study aimed to develop a strategy to construct superhydrophobic composite nanofiber membranes with robust superhydrophobicity and high porosity suitable for use in MD. The newly developed membrane consists of a superhydrophobic silica-PVDF composite selective skin formed on a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) porous nanofiber scaffold via electrospinning. This fabrication method could be easily scaled up due to its simple preparation procedures. The effects of silica diameter and concentration on membrane contact angle, sliding angle, and MD performance were investigated thoroughly. For the first time, the direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) tests demonstrate that the newly developed membranes are able to present stable high performance over 50 h of testing time, and the superhydrophobic selective layer exhibits excellent durability in ultrasonic treatment and a continuous DCMD test. It is believed that this novel design strategy has great potential for MD membrane fabrication. NRF (Natl Research Foundation, S’pore) EDB (Economic Devt. Board, S’pore) Accepted version 2014-09-22T08:05:36Z 2019-12-06T22:00:13Z 2014-09-22T08:05:36Z 2019-12-06T22:00:13Z 2014 2014 Journal Article Liao, Y., Wang, R., & Fane, A. G. (2014). Fabrication of bioinspired composite nanofiber membranes with robust superhydrophobicity for direct contact membrane distillation. Environmental science & technology, 48(11), 6335-6341. https://hdl.handle.net/10356/105894 http://hdl.handle.net/10220/20947 10.1021/es405795s en Environmental science & technology © 2014 American Chemical Society. This is the author created version of a work that has been peer reviewed and accepted for publication by Environmental Science & Technology. It incorporates referee’s comments but changes resulting from the publishing process, such as copyediting, structural formatting, may not be reflected in this document. The published version is available at: [http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/es405795s]. 27 p. + 9 p. application/pdf application/pdf
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
country Singapore
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic DRNTU::Engineering::Environmental engineering::Water treatment
spellingShingle DRNTU::Engineering::Environmental engineering::Water treatment
Fane, Anthony Gordon
Liao, Yuan
Wang, Rong
Fabrication of bioinspired composite nanofiber membranes with robust superhydrophobicity for direct contact membrane distillation
description The practical application of membrane distillation (MD) for water purification is hindered by the absence of desirable membranes that can fulfill the special requirements of the MD process. Compared to the membranes fabricated by other methods, nanofiber membranes produced by electrospinning are of great interest due to their high porosity, low tortuosity, large surface pore size, and high surface hydrophobicity. However, the stable performance of the nanofiber membranes in the MD process is still unsatisfactory. Inspired by the unique structure of the lotus leaf, this study aimed to develop a strategy to construct superhydrophobic composite nanofiber membranes with robust superhydrophobicity and high porosity suitable for use in MD. The newly developed membrane consists of a superhydrophobic silica-PVDF composite selective skin formed on a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) porous nanofiber scaffold via electrospinning. This fabrication method could be easily scaled up due to its simple preparation procedures. The effects of silica diameter and concentration on membrane contact angle, sliding angle, and MD performance were investigated thoroughly. For the first time, the direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) tests demonstrate that the newly developed membranes are able to present stable high performance over 50 h of testing time, and the superhydrophobic selective layer exhibits excellent durability in ultrasonic treatment and a continuous DCMD test. It is believed that this novel design strategy has great potential for MD membrane fabrication.
author2 School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
author_facet School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Fane, Anthony Gordon
Liao, Yuan
Wang, Rong
format Article
author Fane, Anthony Gordon
Liao, Yuan
Wang, Rong
author_sort Fane, Anthony Gordon
title Fabrication of bioinspired composite nanofiber membranes with robust superhydrophobicity for direct contact membrane distillation
title_short Fabrication of bioinspired composite nanofiber membranes with robust superhydrophobicity for direct contact membrane distillation
title_full Fabrication of bioinspired composite nanofiber membranes with robust superhydrophobicity for direct contact membrane distillation
title_fullStr Fabrication of bioinspired composite nanofiber membranes with robust superhydrophobicity for direct contact membrane distillation
title_full_unstemmed Fabrication of bioinspired composite nanofiber membranes with robust superhydrophobicity for direct contact membrane distillation
title_sort fabrication of bioinspired composite nanofiber membranes with robust superhydrophobicity for direct contact membrane distillation
publishDate 2014
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/105894
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/20947
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