Microporous PVDF membranes via thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) and stretching methods

Abstract Microporous polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) hollow fiber membranes were fabricated via a thermally-induced phase separation (TIPS) method using an environmental-friendly hydrophobic solvent, acetyl tributyl citrate (ATBC, tradename Citroflex ® A4 ). To maximize membrane tensile strength, the TIPS method was fully utilized by spinning fibers with high polymer content. It was observed that the fiber quality was significantly affected by the dope and bore flow rates and compositions, and an appropriate spinning range was established. The prepared membranes were subsequently stretched to tune the porosity, mean pore size, permeability, tensile strength, and fiber strain. A design of experiment (DOE) analysis was conducted using a 3-factor quadratic model to optimize the stretching conditions and to understand the effects of the parameters and interactions thereof. The permeability of the stretched membranes improved by a factor of 35 (15.1–538 L m −2  h −1  bar −1 ), and the tensile strength increased from 7.2 MPa to 8.4 MPa at the expense of the fiber strain. The DOE analysis revealed that the stretching ratio positively affects the permeability and porosity but decreases the fiber strain. On the other hand, it was determined that the stretching temperature positively influences the permeability and fiber strength. The stretched membranes exceeded the PVDF performance upper bound prepared by the TIPS method. The membranes were primarily in the α-phase polymorph, and stretching the fibers up to 40% at 90 °C did not induce any detectable β-phase crystals. The proposed preparation method offers a feasible and sustainable alternative to fabricate hollow fibers membranes with high tensile strength and high permeability.