Fabrication and properties of poly(tetrafluoroethylene-co-hexafluoropropylene) hollow fiber membranes
writer：Huang, Qinglin Xiao, Changfa Hu, Xiaoyu An, Shulin
keywords：FEP, hollow fiber membrane, MD
source：期刊
specific source：Journal of Materials Chemistry
Issue time：2011年
Poly(tetrafluoroethylene-co-hexafluoropropylene) (FEP) hollow fiber membranes have been fabricated
for the first time via the melt spinning method. Dioctyl phthalate (DOP) as the diluent and a composite
powder (composed of soluble and insoluble particles) as the pore-creating agent were used in this study.
The addition of the composite powder brought about a dissolved pore structure and interfacial
microvoids (IFMs) in the membrane. The membrane’s corresponding microfiltration performance was
characterized in terms of pure water flux, a mechanical strength test, a mean pore size measurement and
morphology observations by a field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM). The results show
that the FEP hollow fiber membrane was a kind of homogeneous membrane, with mean pore sizes
ranging from 0.4 to 1 mm. The increase of the composite powder addition and the stretching process
brought about an obvious enhancement of the pure water flux and porosity. Compared with the
available commercial PTFE hollow tube membranes, the smaller size of the FEP hollow fiber
membrane provides a higher filled density in the membrane modules. Moreover, the smaller thickness
of the membrane improves membrane permeability.