Membrane
wetting is the main obstacle for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture
on long-term operation. In order to understand wetting,
polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) hollow fiber membranes were fabricated
through paste extrusion, stretching, and sintering processes. CO2 capture performance over 180 days was performed. It indicates
no obvious deterioration of CO2 flux over 180 days. Subsequently,
further investigation was performed through immersion of PTFE hollow
fiber membranes in different absorbent solutions. Results of Fourier
transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, energy-dispersive spectroscopy
(EDS), and variations of membrane weight showed the PTFE polymer kept
good stability in the absorbent solutions over 24 weeks. Scanning
electron microscopy (SEM) images indicated the pore sizes of the PTFE
hollow fiber membranes did not markedly enlarge during immersion,
which was proved by pore size distributions. Contact angle measurements
indicated no obvious reduction (8° reduction) in the membrane
hydrophobicity over 24 weeks. Values of the contact angle relied on
the surface tension values of the absorbent solutions. AFM images
showed that immersion imposed a negative influence on the roughness
values, which was the same order as the contact angle. The results
suggested that none of the absorbent molecules entered the interior
of the PTFE polymer. PTFE hollow fiber membranes may be a promising
alternative for CO2 capture on long-term operation.
The immobilization of photocatalysts is considered an effective approach to solve the problem of the difficult recycling of powdered nanocatalysts after photocatalytic degradation.
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