Omniphobic Membrane for Robust Membrane Distillation
In this work, we fabricate an omniphobic microporous membrane for membrane distillation (MD) by modifying a hydrophilic glass fiber membrane with silica nanoparticles followed by surface fluorination and polymer coating. The modified glass fiber membrane exhibits an anti-wetting property not only ag...
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Published in | Environmental science & technology letters Vol. 1; no. 11; pp. 443 - 447 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
United States
American Chemical Society
11.11.2014
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Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | In this work, we fabricate an omniphobic microporous membrane for membrane distillation (MD) by modifying a hydrophilic glass fiber membrane with silica nanoparticles followed by surface fluorination and polymer coating. The modified glass fiber membrane exhibits an anti-wetting property not only against water but also against low surface tension organic solvents that easily wet a hydrophobic polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane that is commonly used in MD applications. By comparing the performance of the PTFE and omniphobic membranes in direct contact MD experiments in the presence of a surfactant (sodium dodecyl sulfate, SDS), we show that SDS wets the hydrophobic PTFE membrane but not the omniphobic membrane. Our results suggest that omniphobic membranes are critical for MD applications with feed waters containing surface active species, such as oil and gas produced water, to prevent membrane pore wetting. |
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Bibliography: | DE-AR0000306 USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E) |
ISSN: | 2328-8930 2328-8930 |
DOI: | 10.1021/ez500267p |