Superhydrophobic Membrane for Gas-Liquid Membrane Contactor Applications

Abstract

Membrane contactors allow for higher mass transfer per unit volume. Hence, there has been great interest in recent years on its development and applications in separation processes. It offers high interfacial area between liquid and gas phases while preventing direct mixture, and concurrently prevents flooding and foaming, thanks to the independent gas and liquid flow rates. However, wetting of the membrane pores is a serious problem for this technology application, where even partial membrane pores wetting could significantly deteriorate contactor performance. Therefore, it is crucial that the membranes are hydrophobic to maintain membrane nonwetting during operation. Moreover, any membrane surface modification to increase its hydrophobicity must also be highly stable, does not leach out, and can be applied for long-term operation. This chapter looks at the research done on superhydrophobic membranes for gas-liquid membrane contactor application and its recent advances.