Preparation and characterization of nickel hollow fiber membrane Original Research Article

Nickel hollow fiber membranes were prepared by a phase inversion and a sintering method. A nickel hollow fiber support was prepared by spinning the polymer solution containing suspended nickel powders to a hollow fiber precursor which is then sintered at elevated temperature. For these hollow fiber precursors, polysulfone and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone were used as a polymer binder and a solvent, respectively. Furthermore, the nickel hollow fiber membrane was successfully fabricated on the nickel hollow fiber support by coating a finer nickel particle. The nickel hollow fibers were characterized using scanning electron microscope, porometry measurement, mercury porosimeter and three point bending test. The prepared nickel membranes show an asymmetric and a sponge-like structure. The average pore size of the membrane is in the range of 0.4–1.0 μm.