Design of Robust FEP Porous Ultrafiltration Membranes by Electrospinning-Sintered Technology

Perfluoropolymer membranes are widely used because of their good environmental adaptability. Herein, the ultrafine fibrous FEP porous membranes were fabricated with electrospinning-sintered technology. The effects of PVA content and sintering temperature on the fabricated membranes' morphologies and properties were investigated. The results indicate that a kind of dimensionally stable network structure was formed in the obtained ultrafine fibrous FEP porous membranes after sintering the nascent ultrafine fibrous FEP/PVA membranes. The optimal sintering conditions were obtained by comparing the membranes' performance in terms of membrane morphology, hydrophobicity, mechanical strength, and porosity. When the sintering temperature was 300 degrees C for 10 min, the porosity, water contact angle, and liquid entry pressure of the membrane were 62.7%, 124.2 degrees +/- 2.1 degrees, and 0.18 MPa, respectively. Moreover, the ultrafine fibrous FEP porous membrane at the optimal sintering conditions was tested in vacuum membrane distillation with a permeate flux of 15.1 L center dot m(-2)center dot h(-1) and a salt rejection of 97.99%. Consequently, the ultrafine fibrous FEP porous membrane might be applied in the seawater desalination field.