Preparation and modification of superhydrophobic surfaces have become an emerging research area in the process for organic / aqueous phase separation. Usually, super-hydrophobicity can be achieved either by chemically grafting functional groups, or physically introducing hierarchical structure onto the surfaces. Although there have been some researches focusing on chemical grafting to reduce the surface free energy of membranes, the effect of hierarchical roughness on membranes’ hydrophobicity and pervaporation performance was still not clear. In view of this, we here prepared superhydrophobic PDMS membranes with hierarchical surfaces through PDVB (polydivinylbenzene) coating to investigate its effect on ethanol recovery process. PDVB with hierarchical pore structure was synthesized by solvothermal method. Morphology, topography, surface chemistry, and hydrophobicity of PDVB and PDVB-coated PDMS membranes were comprehensively characterized. And pervaporation performance for ethanol recovery under varied conditions were also evaluated. Results of SEM and 3D white-light interfering profilometer indicated that hierarchical structure was successfully established on membranes’ surface after PDVB coating. And water contact angle was dramatically improved to higher than 150° on the modified surface, which definitely reached the level of superhydrophobic surfaces. For pervaporation evaluation, PDVB-coated PDMS membranes showed better performance with separation factor improved by 13% and total flux by 30%, which should be ascribed to the super-hydrophobicity of PDVB coated layer and its preferential adsorption for ethanol. Integrate all the findings, this work demonstrated an effective way for the fabrication of superhydrophobic PDMS membranes through PDVB coating and achieved enhanced pervaporation performance for ethanol recovery.

Preparation and characterization of superhydrophobic PDMS membranes for ethanol recovery via pervaporation

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.