Fabrication of a Novel Porous Poly（Vinylidene Fluoride） Blend Five-Bore Membrane for Wastewater Treatment

Porous poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF)/poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) blend five-bore hollow fiber membranes are prepared by wet phase inversion methods. In spinning these PVDF hollow fibers, N, N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc) and polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) are used as the solvent and the non-solvent additive, respectively. The external coagulant uses water. The internal coagulants use water and DMAc-water solutions. The membranes are characterized in terms of water flux and molecular weight cut-off for the wet membranes. The cross-sectional structures are examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The effects of polymer concentration and the internal coagulant on the permeation properties and membrane structures are examined keeping the bore liquid flow and air-gap constants. Relative high flux, rejection and strengh PVDF five-bore hollow fiber membranes could be prepared from the polymer concentration in dope solution at 17% of mass fraction, the air gap distance of 14 cm, and using 10% of mass fraction of DMAc solution as the internal coagulant at 13mL/min of flow.