Designing Durable Anti-wetting and Anti-biofouling Membranes for Improved MD Performance

Abstract

Stability of long-term anti-biofouling and superhydrophobicity features is doubtful because of wetting as well as poor adhesion of ultrahydrophobic agents onto the membrane. In this study, a simple approach is presented to fabricate reusable anti-biofouling and superhydrophobic PVDF membranes for membrane distillation (MD) application. Further, PVA-co-poly(MAA) chemical agent is utilized in order to enhance the stability of TiO2 nanoparticles. Poly(MAA), a functionalization agent that can chemically link TiO2 nanomaterials (n-TiO2) and polymer substrate, which has been further elaborated in terms of retained anti-biofouling property. The composite coating exhibits high resistance to wetting and biofouling during long term operation in MD process.