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Effect of stretching on continuous oil/water separation performance of polypropylene hollow fiber membrane

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Abstract

In this work, polypropylene (PP) hollow fiber membranes were fabricated by thermal-induced phase separation method. The influence of cold-stretched and hot-stretched treatment on the morphology and permeability of the PP hollow fiber membranes was investigated. The results showed that there were cracks and crystalline particulate structures on the outer and inner surfaces of the stretched PP hollow fiber membranes, which were not isolated but linked together through fiber-like connections. Compared to the original PP hollow fiber membrane, the mean pore sizes, the porosities, the hydrophobicity and water entry pressure of the stretched PP hollow fiber membranes improved significantly. When applied in conjunction with a vacuum system, the PP hollow fiber membranes could continuously remove oils from water surface, and separate surfactant-free and surfactant-stabilized water-in-oil emulsions, as well. The initial kerosene fluxes of the hot-stretched PP hollow fiber membrane were higher than that of the membranes prepared from original PP hollow fibers or cold-stretched PP hollow fibers. The permeate fluxes of the hot-stretched PP hollow fiber membrane for all different emulsion separations were higher than those of the original PP hollow fiber membrane. There could be seen no emulsion droplet in the optical micrographs after separation, indicating that the water-in-oil emulsions were effectively separated in one-step method.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Science and Technology Plans of Tianjin (14JCZDJC37300) and the National Science Foundation of Tianjin (17JCQNJC02700).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Textiles, Tianjin Polytechnic University, Tianjin, 300387, People’s Republic of China

    Junqiang Hao, Changfa Xiao, Jian Zhao & Li Chen

  2. State Key Laboratory of Separation Membranes and Membrane Processes, Tianjin Polytechnic University, Tianjin, 300387, People’s Republic of China

    Junqiang Hao, Zhili Fan, Changfa Xiao & Hailiang Liu

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  1. Junqiang Hao
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  2. Zhili Fan
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  3. Changfa Xiao
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  4. Jian Zhao
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  6. Li Chen
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Correspondence to Changfa Xiao.

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Hao, J., Fan, Z., Xiao, C. et al. Effect of stretching on continuous oil/water separation performance of polypropylene hollow fiber membrane. Iran Polym J 26, 941–948 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13726-017-0566-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13726-017-0566-5

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