Polymers used in membrane technology, such as polysulfone, offer very good mechanical, chemical and thermal resistances. However, they are often hydrophobic, meaning that fouling can easily occur, leading to an irreversible decrease of membranes performances. To overcome it, efforts are made, aiming at modifying matrices using a surface modification process. Nevertheless, they are expensive and require another unit operation in the membrane preparation. Also, the blending method, consisting in mixing a polymer and an additive in a solvent, can be used. Matrices are then prepared using the liquid-induced phase inversion process. A major drawback is that the additive may be partially washed out since it is hydrophilic and non-solvent is usually water. We present in this work the coupling of the blending method and the vapour-induced phase separation (VIPS) process. Our results show a better efficiency of the couple blending method/VIPS process and very good low-fouling properties are achieved.

Vapour-induced phase separation process vs. liquid-induced phase separation process to prepare low-fouling PEGylated polysulfone membranes in one step

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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