Composite membranes for membrane distillation and related methods of manufacture
AssigneeUniversity of Ottawa
InventorsMoh'd Rasool QTAISHAT, Mohamed KHAYET, Takeshi MATSUURA
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Abstract
The present invention provides composite membranes for membrane distillation and related methods of manufacture. In particular, there is provided a composite hydrophilic/hydrophobic membrane comprising a hydrophilic polymer layer and a hydrophobic polymer layer comprising fluorinated surface-modifying macromolecules, wherein said composite membrane has a high vapour flux. Also provided herein are methods of manufacturing and optimizing the composite membranes and a membrane distillation system comprising the composite membranes.
Claims23
A composite hydrophilic/hydrophobic membrane comprising a hydrophilic polymer layer and a hydrophobic polymer layer comprising a fluorinated surface-modifying macromolecule (SMM), wherein said composite membrane has a high vapour flux.
A method of manufacturing a composite hydrophilic/hydrophobic membrane comprising a hydrophilic polymer layer and a hydrophobic polymer layer, said method comprising the steps of:
- (a) blending a host hydrophilic polymer with a fluorinated surface-modifying macromolecule and a non-solvent additive in a solvent;
- (b) casting the polymer blend and allowing the solvent to evaporate at room temperature for a predetermined time;
- (c) immersing the cast film produced in step (b) in water to allow gelation.
A method of optimizing the MD performance of a composite hydrophilic/hydrophobic membrane comprising a hydrophilic polymer layer and a hydrophobic polymer layer, said method comprising the steps of:
- (a) maximizing porosity of the top hydrophobic layer of the composite membrane;
- (b) minimizing the thickness of the top hydrophobic layer of the composite membrane;
- and
- (c) maximizing the thickness, the porosity and the thermal conductivity of the bottom hydrophilic layer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.