Plasma-treating of polymeric membranes for separation of water-oil emulsions

Abstract

The effect of high-frequency capacitive low-temperature plasma of reduced pressure of glow in different gas atmospheres on polymeric membranes has been investigated. Increased roughness of plasma-treated PES membranes and smoothing of PAN and PSA filters is shown. For all membranes, oxidative processes are observed as a result of plasma exposure, which is confirmed by the increased C-O content of the IR-spectroscopy group. The growth in wetting capacity of membranes treated with plasma of gas atmospheres is also demonstrated. They contain nitrogen and air and an increase of hydrophobicity in the case of propane and butane gas atmosphere. The increasing in hydrophilicity has been determined experimentally, thus raise of efficiency of water-oil emulsion separation.