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Polyethersulfones (PES) with three different molecular weights were chosen to prepare ultrafiltration (UF) membranes by the nonsolvent induced phase separation method using polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) as additive and solvent, respectively. The effect of PES molecular weight on the structure and performance of the prepared asymmetric membranes was investigated by means of UF experiments, measurements of membrane thickness and porosity, scanning electron microscopy, and the measurement of bursting strength, given fixed PVP or PES concentrations. It was found that increasing PES molecular weight would lead to a larger pore size in the skin layer but lower membrane porosity, and would result in membranes with higher strength, higher permeability, and lower rejection. Based on the experimental data of PES molecular weight, ternary phase diagram, and cast solution viscosity obtained from gel permeation chromatography, cloud point titration, and coaxial cylinder viscometer measurements, respectively, the underlying causes of membrane structures were accounted for from the combined perspective of thermodynamics and kinetics and polymer aggregate dimensions.

To study the effects of nano-TiO 2 particles on membrane performance and structure and to explore possible interactions between nano-TiO 2 particles and polymer, polymer/TiO 2 embedded hybrid membranes and neat polymer membranes were prepared using the phase inversion method. Poly(vinylidene difluoride) (PVDF), poly(vinylidene difluoride)-g-(maleic anhydride) (PVDF-g-MA), and poly(vinylidene difluoride)-g-poly(acryl amide) (PVDF-g-PAM) were selected as the membrane materials. SEM images showed that the hybrid membranes had a thinner skin layer and a larger number of pores in the sublayer than the neat membranes, which was the main cause of the increase in water flux of the hybrid membranes. They also exhibited a better antifouling property than the neat ones in the continuous BSA solution filtration process. In the 48-h-long pure-water experiment, the hybrid membranes underwent a water flux decline and an increase in contact angle. The loss of nano-TiO 2 particles, revealed by EDS analysis, influenced the stability of hybrid membrane performance. The XPS analysis suggested that nano-TiO 2 particles were immobilized in the membrane surface layer through the formation of a stable chemical structure resulting from its reaction with polymer and/or through intertwining with polymer chains.

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Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) powders were grafted with N‐vinyl pyrrolidone using the pre‐irradiation induced graft polymerization technique. The effects of reaction time, absorbed dose, and monomer concentration on the degree of grafting were investigated, and the grafted PVDF powders were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry. The grafted PVDF powders were also cast into microfiltration (MF) membranes via the phase‐inversion method. The contact angle and water uptake were measured. The membrane morphology was studied by scanning electron microscopy, and the water filtration properties of the membranes were tested. The antifouling properties were determined through measurements of the recovery percentage of pure water flux after the MF membranes were fouled with bovine serum albumin solution. The results confirmed that the existence of poly(N‐vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) graft chains improved the hydrophilicity and antifouling properties of the MF membranes cast from PVDF‐g‐PVP powders. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013

The performance of different nanofiltration (NF) membranes for the treatment of strontium-containing radioactive wastewater was investigated. The effects of the initial strontium concentration, solution pH and complexation phenomena on strontium removal were described. For all the three membranes, the strontium rejection increased with decreasing initial strontium concentration. Meanwhile, the strontium rejection was minimum at the membrane isoelectric point (pH 5) primarily due to decreased co-ion electrostatic repulsion. In the presence of a complexing agent (polyacrylic acid or ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid disodium salt), the strontium rejection was generally higher than those obtained without a complexing agent for NF 270 and XN 45. Membrane cleaning experiments were also conducted to recover the performance of the membranes, which exhibited degradation during long-time filtration. The performance of the membranes after cleaning was close to that of the virgin membranes, especially for XN 45, whose recovery percentage was nearly 100%.