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Isotactic polypropylene (iPP) hydrophobic flat-sheet membranes were fabricated for use in vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) through a thermally induced phase-separation process with dispersing hydrophobically modified SiO 2 nanoparticles in the casting solution to achieve a higher hydrophobicity and to sustain a stable flux in VMD. The contact angle (CA) measurements indicated that the incorporation of nano-SiO 2 into a casting solution mixture containing 20 wt % iPP had a 20.9% higher CA relative to that of SiO 2 -free membranes. The addition of nano-SiO 2 also induced morphological changes in the membrane structure, including changes in the pore size distribution, porosity, and suppression of macrovoids. The pore size distribution of the iPP-SiO 2 membranes became narrower compared with that of the SiO 2 -free membranes, and the porosity also improved from 35.45 to 59.75% with SiO 2 addition. The average pore size and maximum pore size of the iPP-SiO 2 membranes both decreased. The ability of the membranes to concentrate an astragalus aqueous solution (a type of traditional Chinese medicine) with VMD was investigated. The surface hydrophobicity and antifouling performance of the iPP-SiO 2 membranes improved with nano-SiO 2 addition to the membrane casting solution.

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A creative electro-ultrafiltration method was developed to remove sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) from proteins extracted for proteomics analysis.