Hydrophobic organic-inorganic composite hollow fiber membrane and method of forming the same
AssigneeNanyang Technological University
InventorsRong Wang, Yuan Zhang
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The invention relates to hydrophobic hollow fiber membranes, and in particular, to hydrophobic organic-inorganic composite hollow fiber membranes. Methods for forming the hydrophobic organic-inorganic composite hollow fiber membranes are also disclosed. The hydrophobic organic-inorganic composite hollow fiber membranes may be used in membrane contactor applications such as gas-liquid (G-L) contactor and liquid-liquid (L-L) contactor processes. Applications for G-L membrane contactors include gas streams purification (gas absorption), water ozonation, and water deoxygenation. Applications for L-L membrane contactors include direct contact membrane distillation and liquid-liquid extraction.
Claims19
A method for forming an organic-inorganic composite hollow fiber membrane comprising an organic hollow fiber membrane having inorganic nanoparticles incorporated therein, the method comprising:
- (I) contacting an organic hollow fiber membrane with an aminosilane solution to obtain a silanol-functionalized organic hollow fiber membrane;
- and
- (II) contacting, for less than five hours, the silanol-functionalized organic hollow fiber membrane formed in (I) with an alkaline solution comprising a mixture of (i) a nanoparticle precursor and (ii) a hydrophobic fluoro-compound, before the nanoparticle precursor and the hydrophobic fluoro-compound start to hydrolyse, so as to have hydrolysis, polycondensation, and fluorination of the nanoparticle precursor occur simultaneously in the presence of the hydrophobic fluoro-compound, whereby the nanoparticle precursor hydrolyzes to form fluorinated inorganic nanoparticles chemically bonded to the silanol-functionalized organic hollow fiber membrane,
- and wherein the inorganic nanoparticles comprise the fluorinated inorganic nanoparticles present as an inorganic layer on the membrane surface and embedded in the organic-inorganic composite hollow fiber membrane to provide the organic-inorganic composite hollow fiber membrane with a hierarchical structure of the inorganic nanoparticles with multilevel roughness across a cross-section of the organic-inorganic composite hollow fiber membrane.
An organic-inorganic composite hollow fiber membrane comprising an organic hollow fiber membrane having inorganic nanoparticles incorporated therein, wherein the organic-inorganic composite hollow fiber membrane is obtained from a method comprising:
- (I) contacting an organic hollow fiber membrane with an aminosilane solution to obtain a silanol-functionalized organic hollow fiber membrane;
- and
- (II) contacting, for less than five hours, the silanol-functionalized organic hollow fiber membrane formed in (I) with an alkaline solution comprising a mixture of (i) a nanoparticle precursor and (ii) a hydrophobic fluoro-compound, before the nanoparticle precursor and the hydrophobic fluoro-compound start to hydrolyse, so as to have hydrolysis, polycondensation, and fluorination of the nanoparticle precursor occur simultaneously in the presence of the hydrophobic fluoro-compound, whereby the nanoparticle precursor hydrolyzes to form fluorinated inorganic nanoparticles chemically bonded to the silanol-functionalized organic hollow fiber membrane,
- and wherein the inorganic nanoparticles comprise the fluorinated inorganic nanoparticles present as an inorganic layer on the membrane surface and embedded in the organic-inorganic composite hollow fiber membrane to provide the organic-inorganic composite hollow fiber membrane with a hierarchical structure of the inorganic nanoparticles with multilevel roughness across a cross-section of the organic-inorganic composite hollow fiber membrane.
A method, comprising:
- (I) forming a silanol-functionalized organic hollow fiber membrane by contacting an organic hollow fiber membrane with an aminosilane solution;
- and
- (II) forming an organic-inorganic composite hollow fiber membrane by at least partially immersing, for less than five hours, the silanol-functionalized organic hollow fiber membrane formed in (I) in an alkaline solution comprising a mixture of (i) a nanoparticle precursor and (ii) a hydrophobic fluoro-compound, before the nanoparticle precursor and the hydrophobic fluoro-compound start to hydrolyse, so as to have hydrolysis, polycondensation, and fluorination of the nanoparticle precursor occur simultaneously in the presence of the hydrophobic fluoro-compound, whereby the nanoparticle precursor hydrolyzes to form fluorinated inorganic nanoparticles during the immersion,
- and wherein the organic-inorganic composite hollow fiber membrane comprises an organic hollow fiber membrane having the fluorinated inorganic nanoparticles present as an inorganic layer on the membrane surface and embedded in the organic-inorganic composite hollow fiber membrane to provide the organic-inorganic composite hollow fiber membrane with a hierarchical structure of the inorganic nanoparticles with multilevel roughness across a cross-section of the organic-inorganic composite hollow fiber membrane.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.