Solution blown nanofibrous membrane for microfiltration

Nanofibrous membranes have been paid attention in microfiltration. Solution blowing process is a new nanofiber fabricating method with high productivity. In this study, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) nanofibrous mat was successfully solution blown using a multiorifices die. The fibers were mostly 60-280 nm in diameter and three-dimensional curly which resulted in a loose construction with high porosity of 95.8%. The nanofibrous mat was further hot-pressed to increase its integrality. The structure and microfiltration performance was evaluated. The results showed the crystallinity of the membranes increased, the porosity and pore size decreased after hot-pressing treatment. The hot-pressed membranes showed high retention ratio against microparticles and high pure water flux which will help the solution blown membrane find application in high flux microfiltration. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.