Preparation and characterization of poly(vinylidene fluoride)/nanoclay nanocomposite flat sheet membranes for abrasion resistance

Abstract

10Membranes with more resilience to abrasive wear are highly desired in water treatment, 11 especially for seawater desalination. Nanocomposite poly(vinylidene fluoride) 12 (PVDF)/nanoclay membranes were prepared by phase inversion and then tested for abrasion 13 resistance. Their material properties were characterized using Fourier-transform infrared 14 spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), tensile testing, scanning electron 15 microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). Nanoclay Cloisite ® 15A was 16 utilised as the inorganic nanoparticle incorporated into PVDF. FTIR results showed a shifting 17 of the PVDF crystalline phase from Į to ȕ thus indicating that the nanoclay altered the PVDF 18 host material's structure and mechanical properties in terms of stiffness and toughness. Water 19 permeation test showed that nanoclay at low concentration tended to reduce water flux. All 20 nanocomposite membranes, with between 1 wt% and 5 wt% initial nanoclay loading, were 21 more abrasion resistant than the control PVDF membrane. However, the 1 wt% exhibited 22 superior resistance, lasting two times longer than the reference PVDF membrane under the 23 same abrasive condition. The 1 wt% nanoclay membrane appeared less abraded by SEM 24 observation, while also having the greatest tensile strength improvement (from 4.5 MPa to 4.9 25 MPa). This membrane also had the smallest agglomerated nanoclay particle size and highest 26 toughness compared to the higher nanoclay content membranes. Nanoclays are therefore 27 useful for improving abrasion resistance of PVDF membranes, but optimal loadings are 28 essential to avoid losing essential mechanical properties. 29 30

Water flow prediction for membranes using 3D simulations with detailed morphology

“…Among these cases, the membrane with two finger-like cavity sets was experimentally observed in the membrane we produced and showed in Fig. 1(b), similar membrane morphologies for other cases can be found in the literature [29,38].…”

Super hydrophilic TiO2/HNT nanocomposites as a new approach for fabrication of high performance thin film nanocomposite membranes for FO application

“…Thus, incorporation of TiO 2 /HNTs has improved the antifouling behaviour of membrane through decreasing BSA accumulation on the surface of PA selective layer. It can be stated that interplay of surface hydrophilicity and surface electrostatic interactions are the two main parameters responsible for membrane anti-fouling behaviour [57,58].…”

Application of nano TiO2 modified hollow fiber membranes in algal membrane bioreactors for high-density algae cultivation and wastewater polishing

“…In this research, PVDF was used as the base membrane material due to its excellent chemical, thermal stability and mechanical strength (Lai et al, 2014). The objectives of this research were to determine the antifouling property of the nano-TiO 2 incorporated-PVDF membranes (labeled as PVDF/TiO 2 nanocomposite membranes hereafter) and evaluate the overall performance of the algal MBRs (A-MBRs) for high-density algae cultivation and wastewater treatment/polishing.…”