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Phenyl-urethane group-modified cellulose acetate-based flat/nanofiber composite membrane for membrane distillation
Yaxin An1, Teng Ma1, Hongbo Wang1
1College of Textile Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, Yuci 030600, Shanxi, China.
International Journal of Biological Macromolecules
|July 28, 2025
Summary
Researchers developed a novel cellulose acetate membrane for membrane distillation by chemically adding hydrophobic groups and adjusting pore structure. This enhanced membrane shows superior hydrophobicity and excellent salt rejection for efficient water purification.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Chemical Engineering
- Environmental Science
Background:
- Cellulose acetate membranes are crucial for water separation technologies like membrane distillation.
- Developing membranes with tailored hydrophilic/hydrophobic properties is key to improving separation efficiency.
- Existing methods often struggle to achieve stable and highly effective asymmetric membranes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To fabricate an asymmetric hydrophilic/hydrophobic cellulose acetate-based composite membrane for enhanced membrane distillation performance.
- To investigate the effect of chemical modification and coagulation bath composition on membrane properties.
- To provide a new technical basis for constructing hydrophobic layers in cellulose-based membranes.
Main Methods:
- Chemically modifying cellulose diacetate with m-tolyl isocyanate (MTIS) to introduce hydrophobic groups.
- Combining modified cellulose diacetate with a hydrophilic cellulose triacetate nanofiber membrane via reverse phase inversion.
- Regulating pore structure and surface roughness by adjusting coagulation bath composition (ethanol concentration).
Main Results:
- Confirmed stable covalent bonding of MTIS onto cellulose acetate.
- Increasing ethanol concentration in the coagulation bath enhanced pore formation and surface roughness.
- Achieved a water contact angle of 116.7° and excellent separation efficiency (flux: 26.38 kg m⁻² h⁻¹, salt rejection: 96.87%).
- Optimized membrane exhibited improved thermomechanical properties and crystallinity.
Conclusions:
- The synergistic effect of chemical modification and physical structuring significantly improved membrane hydrophobicity and separation performance.
- The developed membrane offers a new technical basis for hydrophobic layer construction in cellulose-based composite membranes for membrane distillation.
- Methodological guidance is provided for tuning hydrophilic and hydrophobic characteristics of cellulose-based materials.
