Research Output
Development of hydrophobic polymethylhydrosiloxane/tetraethylorthosilicate (PMHS/TEOS) hybrid coating on ceramic membrane for desalination via membrane distillation
Ceramic Membrane Distillation for Desalination
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Publication
This study presents a facile approach to produce hydrophobic ceramic hollow fiber membranes (CHFMs) for membrane distillation (MD) desalination using the polymethylhydrosiloxane/tetraethylorthosilicate (PMHS/TEOS) hybrid material. The CHFM was modified via dip-coating with PMHS/TEOS hybrid solution followed by post-coating spinning to facilitate the formation of pores on the coating layer. The effects of ethanol and PMHS concentrations on the coating layer structure and hydrophobicity of the membranes were studied. CHFMs acquired hydrophobic properties after surface modification with the water contact angle values in the range of 108.2° to 124.1°. These membranes showed outstanding direct contact MD (DCMD) desalination performance with salt rejections of >99.98%. A flux of 6.7 L/m2h was achieved by the surface-modified CHFM when treating feed solution with a salinity of 35,000 ppm.
Publication
Membrane distillation (MD) is a thermally driven membranous process and in the recent years, it has received increasing attention in desalination. Generally, polymeric membranes have dominated the MD studies due to their intrinsic hydrophobic properties and high availability. On the other hand, the development of ceramic membranes for MD desalination is developing, gradually replacing their polymeric counterparts due to superior properties in terms of thermal, chemical and mechanical stabilities, as well as potentially longer service terms. This review describes and evaluates the fabrication methods of ceramic membranes as well as discusses the latest discoveries of ceramic membranes for MD desalination. Despite outstanding properties, the efforts in developing ceramic membranes as a replacement for polymeric membranes in MD desalination are meeting challenges and obstacles; hence, in the last part of this article, the current challenges and future research opportunities of ceramic membrane development will also be addressed.