Hydrophilic SiC hollow fiber membranes for low fouling separation of oil-in-water emulsions with high flux

Abstract

The dry-wetting spinning technique involving immersion-induced phase inversion and dry-sintering was applied to prepare two types of SiC and Al₂O₃ hollow fiber membranes. The two hollow fiber membranes were characterized in terms of morphology and chemical surface composition by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), water contact angle and zeta potential measurements. The filtration capabilities of the two hollow fiber membranes were assessed by the separation of 200 mg L⁻¹ synthetic (O/W) emulsions. During the treatment of O/W emulsions, the permeation flux of the SiC hollow fiber membrane was 163.9 L h⁻¹ m⁻², which was higher than that of the Al₂O₃ hollow fiber membrane (139.4 L h⁻¹ m⁻²) at the beginning of the experiment. The membrane surface properties and the filtration results of O/W emulsion microfiltration demonstrated that the SiC hollow fiber membranes with a higher hydrophilicity had higher water flux and better anti-fouling properties.