Preparation and characterization of hydrophobic P(VDF-HFP) flat sheet membranes using Tamisolve® NxG solvent for the treatment of saline water by direct contact membrane distillation and membrane crystallization

• Published in: Separation and purification technology Vol. 275; p. 119144
• Main Authors: Saïdi, Safa, Macedonio, Francesca, Russo, Francesca, Hannachi, Chiraz, Hamrouni, Béchir, Drioli, Enrico, Figoli, Alberto
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 15.11.2021
• Subjects: Membrane crystallization (MCr); Membrane distillation (MD); Non-toxic solvent; PVDF membranes; Tamisolve; PVDF membranes; Non-toxic solvent; Tamisolve; Membrane distillation (MD); Membrane crystallization (MCr)
• ISSN: 1383-5866; 1873-3794
• DOI: 10.1016/j.seppur.2021.119144

[Display omitted] •Tamisolve® was used as a non-toxic solvent for P(VDF-HFP) membranes preparation.•The prepared porous P(VDF-HFP) membranes were fully characterized.•The membranes were tested in membrane distillation and membrane crystallization.•Membrane crystallization allowed achieving crystals with rejection greater than 99%. The replacement of the toxic solvents with non-toxic equivalents attracts a great attention in membrane preparation and application processes. The purpose of this work is to study the preparation of poly(vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene) P(VDF-HFP) flat sheet membranes by non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS) using Tamisolve® as a non-toxic solvent, for membrane distillation (MD) and membrane crystallization (MCr) applications. The prepared porous P(VDF-HFP) membranes were fully characterized in terms of morphology, porosity, thickness, pore-size, contact angle and pure water permeability (PWP). The effect of additive(s) and polymer content were investigated. Moreover, preliminary DCMD and MCr tests were carried out and the achieved results indicate the good performance of the prepared flat sheet membranes in terms of permeate flux and salt rejection in comparison to a commercial PVDF membrane. The obtained results confirmed the ability of the eco-friendly Tamisolve® NxG to compete with the highly toxic diluents usually used in membrane fabrication by phase inversion method.