Tuning the water permeability of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene microporous membrane by molecular self-assembly and flow field

We have systematically studied phase separation behavior in ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene/ liquid paraffin/dibenzylidene sorbitol (UHMWPE/LP/DBS) ternary blends. The aim of this paper is to investigate the combined effect of DBS and flow field on the structure and water permeability of UHMWPE microporous membrane. The experimental results show that DBS molecules self-assemble into fibrils firstly during cooling and the blends exhibit a gel-like state before liquid liquid phase transition. The relaxation time of DBS fibrils is quite long, which shows a great sensitivity to flow field as compared to UHMWPE chain. UHMWPE microporous membrane was prepared via thermally induced phase separation method. DBS fibrils, as in situ formed nucleating agent, decrease the pore size and water permeability and enhance mechanical properties of membrane remarkably. Shear flow can result in alignment of DBS fibrils, which facilitates the nucleation of UHMWPE and induces the lamellae aligned perpendicular to flow direction. This feature was used to design thermal and mechanical histories and obtained oriented UHMWPE microporous membrane. In comparison to the isotropic UHMWPE microporous membrane, the oriented UHMWPE microporous membrane provides low tortuous paths across the membrane and produces high water permeability. (c) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.