Preparation of solvent resistant supports through formation of a semi interpenetrating polysulfone/polyacrylate network using UV cross-linking - Part 2: Optimization of synthesis parameters for UV-LED curing

Concerns of energy shortage and pollution, have rapidly increased the demand for efficient separation processes. In this respect, solvent resistant nanofiltration has become an emerging technology with great potential as an energy-efficient and waste-free separation method. Unfortunately, the lack of sufficient stability (especially chemical stability of the support) still restricts the utilization of this separation technique to the more mild industries, leaving several unexploited. As already detailed in part I of this research, one promising approach to increase the chemical stability of supports, used afterwards as starting point for the synthesis of thin film composite nanofiltration membranes, is cross-linking polymeric OF membranes by UV-irradiation. Whereas in the previous part, the 365 nm UV-LED light was selected as the best setup to achieve a high cross-linking efficiency at high throughputs, in this second part the impact of (non-)compositional parameters on the cross linking efficiency was investigated. The most important parameters with the largest impact on the degree of conversion (DC) were shown to be the cross-linker content, the membrane thickness and the incorporation of a non-woven support. Finally and more importantly, after curing the membranes did not only show enhanced solvent stabilities (viz. part I), they also exhibited greater physical strength while at the same time maintaining the retention at a similar level as the non-cured membrane clearly indicating their industrial importance.

Jaar van publicatie:2020

Trefwoorden:A1 Journal article

BOF-keylabel:ja

BOF-publication weight:1

CSS-citation score:1

Authors from:Government

Toegankelijkheid:Closed