Mass-transfer driven spinodal decomposition in a ternary polymer solution

Abstract

A study of the combined effects of both mass transfer and phase separation kinetics on the widely used process of nonsolvent induced phase separation (NIPS) via a two-fluid model.

Modeling the interplay between solvent evaporation and phase separation dynamics during membrane

“…both experimentally due to preferential wetting constraints [42] or theoretically because of thermal gradients on one side [43] or, more recently, because of solvent replacement in a ternary solution [30]. The evaporating surface can be viewed as a wetting constraint breaking isotropy, contrary to the neutral sides and bottom surfaces where isotropy is maintained by periodic boundary conditions and Dirichlet condition respectively.…”

“…Whatever the process aforementioned, it is of prime importance to elucidate how the mass exchanges affect the phase separation dynamics, and hence the final membrane morphology. Surprisingly, to the best of our knowledge, few theoretical studies have considered this coupling [30]. This paper focuses on the coupling between the phase separation induced by TIPS process and mass transfer phenomena for a simplified binary polymer/solvent system.…”

Fabrication of a PVDF membrane with tailored morphology and properties via exploring and computing its ternary phase diagram for wastewater treatment and gas separation applications

“…More detailed information about the numerical approach to t the binodal curves may be found in the literature. 12,20,23,[30][31][32]…”

“…In this point, all the sufficient and optimum amount of solvent, non-solvent can be determined to obtain a desired morphology. 12,20 In the other word, the 12 wt% is the closest concentration for PVDF membrane fabrication for quick phase separation, while using the proposed amount of solvent and nonsolvents.…”

“…More precisely, while the starting point of the binodal demixing curve occurred at the initiation of nucleation and growth of droplets in the polymer lean phase, the spinodal demixing curve took place in the polymer-rich area. 12 This resulted in a membrane material made up of interconnected globule-like particulates along with a reticular or bi-continuous surface structure. 13,14 Thus, such a pattern for membrane preparation can be benecial for their specic applications, unlike the conventional methods for preparing membranes randomly without taking the solventspolymer and nonsolvent interactions into account.…”