One‐Step Preparation of Hydrophilic and Reinforced Polyethylene Hollow Fiber Membranes via the Combination Technology of Braided Tube Reinforcement and TIPS Method

Abstract

In this work, the hydrophilic and reinforced polyethylene (PE) hollow fiber membranes were prepared successfully via the combined technology of braided tube reinforcement and the thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) method. We selected PE as the membrane‐forming polymer, polyethylene glycol (PEG) and calcium chloride (CaCl2) as the composite pore‐forming agents, polyether alcohol compounds (HL560) and graphene oxide (GO) as the composite hydrophilic additives, white oil as the diluent, and polyester (PET) braided tube as the reinforcement. The effects of GO content on membrane structure and properties were analyzed and investigated in detail based on the FTIR, Raman, DSC, TG, SEM, pore size analyzer, and contact angle meter, and so forth. The results showed that the hydrophilicity, porosity, and permeability of the membranes improved obviously with the increase of GO content. When the GO content was 0.05 wt%, the water contact angle and the initial pure water flux was 72.5° and 912.5 L·m−2 h−1, respectively. In addition, the reinforced PE hollow fiber membranes exhibited excellent corrosion resistance and mechanical strength, which could meet the need for long‐term use.