Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Department of Chemical Engineering, Gachsaran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Gachsaran,Iran.
2 Islamic Azad University, Gachsaran, IRAN
3 Department of Chemical Engineering, Shiraz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shiraz, Iran.
Abstract
In this research, hollow fiber membranes of polyvinylidene fluoride - hexafluoropropylene (PVDF-HFP) (and polysulfone) (PSF) were prepared by the non-solvent phase separation (NIPS) method. The cloud point diagram was used to study the rate of phase separation of polymer solutions. Morphological structure, nitrogen permeability, average pore size, total porosity, average contact angle, effective porosity level, critical water pressure and destruction pressure of the membranes have been compared. Membrane module was prepared to extract penicillin in liquid-liquid membrane contacting system. From the analysis of field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) images, it was observed that the developed PVDF-HFP membrane has an open structure with large finger-like pores, a very thin outer skin and a skinless inner layer. The PVDF-HFP hollow fiber membrane shows good wetting resistance with a water contact angle of about 94° and a critical water ingress pressure of 350 kPa. The PSF membrane with a contact angle of 69.6° and a critical water entry pressure of 250 kPa shows a lower resistance to wetting than the PVDF-HFP membrane. The response surface method (RSM) was used for optimization. The results showed that PVDF-HFP liquid-liquid membrane contactor has a much better performance than PSF membrane contactor for pharmaceutical wastewater treatment.
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