Abstract

In this study, porous polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) hollow fiber (HF) membranes for membrane distillation applications were successfully prepared using TamiSolve® NxG, an innovative lower-hazard solvent, through the non-solvent induced phase inversion technique. The influence of the bore fluid composition and bore fluid flow rate on membrane morphology and performance was systematically investigated while maintaining a fixed polymer dope formulation. The prepared hollow fibers were thoroughly characterized in terms of morphology, membrane thickness, porosity, contact angle, mechanical resistance, pore size, and pure water permeability. In addition, their performance was investigated through Direct Contact Membrane Distillation (DCMD) tests in order to evaluate their applicability in desalination processes. The developed PVDF HF membranes exhibited pore sizes comparable to those of commercial polypropylene (PP) membranes and achieved high permeate flux together with excellent salt rejection, demonstrating their promising potential for sustainable membrane distillation and desalination applications.

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