Study on the Preparation of Cellulose Acetate Separation Membrane and New Adjusting Method of Pore Size

• Published in: Membranes (Basel) Vol. 12; no. 1; p. 9
• Main Authors: Wang, Jianming, Song, Hongchen, Ren, Longfei, Talukder, Md Eman, Chen, Shunquan, Shao, Jiahui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 23.12.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Acetic acid; Acetone; Antifouling substances; Biodegradability; Biodegradation; Cellulose acetate; cellulose acetate membrane; Contact angle; Dimethyl acetamide; Evaporation; Glycerol; high-performance separation; Humidity; Membrane separation; Membranes; Morphology; Phase separation; Pore size; pore size control; Solvents; sponge-like porous structure; Viscosity; China; cellulose acetate membrane; pore size control; sponge-like porous structure; high-performance separation
• DOI: 10.3390/membranes12010009
• ISSN: 2077-0375

As a kind of eco-friendly (biodegradable) material and with a natural anti-fouling ability, cellulose acetate (CA) is more suitable for single-use membrane (especially in bioprocess). In this study, the method for preparing CA membrane by Vapor-assisted Nonsolvent Induced Phase Separation (VNIPS) was studied. The influences of ratio compositions (solid content, acetone/N,N-Dimethylacetamide ratio, glycerol/CA ratio) and membrane preparation conditions (evaporation time, evaporation temperature and humidity) on the microstructure and other properties were systematically evaluated. Results indicated that acetone/N,N-Dimethylacetamide ratio and glycerol/CA ratio had great influence on the cross-section structure of membranes. Additionally, the membrane with homogeneous sponge-like porous structure could be prepared stably within certain limits of ratios. Under the premise of keeping the content of other components fixed, the separation membrane with a full sponge pore structure can be obtained when the ratio of glycerol/CA is ≥2.5 or the acetone/solvent ratio is between 0.25 and 0.5. Evaporation time and temperature, humidity and other membrane preparation conditions mainly affected the surface morphology and the pore size. This kind of high-performance membrane with homogeneous sponge-like pore and controllable surface morphology could be potentially used for bioseparation processes.