Novel chemical surface modification to enhance hydrophobicity of polyamide-imide (PAI) hollow fiber membranes

Membrane wetting is a major concern for the application of membrane contactors. In order to develop a novel hydrophobic membrane that can be used in membrane contactors, a hydrophobic surface modification method for Torlon® polyamide-imide (PAI) membrane was explored, which has not been reported previously. Asymmetric microporous hollow fiber membranes were fabricated using PAI material followed by a simple surface modification using a silane coupling agent, 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS), and a perfluro-compound (Fluorolink S10) to produce PAI hollow fiber membranes with a hydrophobic surface. The reactions between PAI and the modification reagents have been confirmed by experiments.