Asymmetric and bi-continuously structured polyethersulfone (PES) membranes with superior water flux for ultrafiltration application

Chao Ching Chang, Szu Ting Yu, Jenn Fang Su*, Liao Ping Cheng

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal Article peer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

This work reports a fabrication of asymmetric polyethersulfone (PES) membranes from the water/γ-butyllactone (GBL)/polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)/PES system using non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS) process. Different amounts of PVP and PES are added into the environmentally friendly solvent, GBL, to form the dope solutions and their effects on the morphological, physical, permeation, and filtration properties of formed membranes are systematically studied. The results demonstrate that the pore size on the top surface and the size of macrovoids in the bulk increase with increasing PVP content and decreasing PES amount in the dope. In the optimal conditions (PVP/PES ratio approaches 1, in particular), the macrovoids disappears and the pores evolve into three-dimensional pore networks in PES matrix. This unique bi-continuous membrane exhibits a remarkable water permeation flux of nearly 1000 L•m−2 h−1 and a BSA rejection of 91%.

Original languageEnglish
Article number23
JournalJournal of Polymer Research
Volume29
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 01 2022
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Polymer Society, Taipei.

Keywords

  • Asymmetric bi-continuous structure
  • Membrane
  • Nonsolvent induced phase separation
  • Polyethersulfone
  • Ultrafiltration
  • Water permeation flux

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