The permeation performance of SBA-15/CAP/PVDF blend membranes

To improve the mechanical strength of cellulose acetate (CA) membranes, porous inorganic/organic hybrid membranes were prepared via phase inversion technique from casting solution composed of cellulose acetate propionate (CAP), poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF), mesoporous SBA-15 materials, and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP). The effects of PVDF content and modification with SBA-15 on membranes structure, and properties were characterized in terms of fieldemission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and pure water flux. The results showed that due to the decrease of crystallinity of CAP membranes, the modified CAP-PVDF blend membranes exhibited a high level of water permeation along with the increasing the content of PVDF. Furthermore, after incorporated with SBA-15, it was observed that the pure water flux through the SBA-15/PVDF/CAP hybrid membranes was obviously affected by the incorporated SBA-15 and formed membrane morphology. All different CAP-PVDF weight ratio membranes showed a similar pure water flux of approx. 100 L/m²/h.