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Title:	Development of superhydrophobic polyvinylidene fluoride membrane with silica nanoparticles for osmotic distillation of succinic acid
Authors:	Tan Jun Ying (P90447)
Supervisor:	Ang Wei Lun, Dr.
Keywords:	Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia -- Dissertations Dissertations, Academic -- Malaysia Osmotic distillation Succinic acid Membranes
Issue Date:	5-May-2021
Description:	Osmotic distillation (OD) separation process had been proposed for the concentration and purification of succinic acid obtained from biorefinery process. This is due to the separation process that operates at atmospheric pressure and low heat conditions, which is suitable for components that may degrade under high temperatures. However, one of the challenges faced by OD separation process is membrane fouling, which foulants attached onto membrane surfaces and pores. Another challenge is membrane wetting, where feed solution penetrates into membrane pores, allowing feed solution to pass through into permeate stream. Both membrane fouling and membrane wetting will negatively impact the membrane separation performance and permeate quality. In order to minimize the unfavorable effect of membrane fouling and membrane wetting, this study aims to fabricate a membrane through surface roughness creation by incorporating silica (SiO2) nanoparticles onto polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane. Besides that, surface energy modification by silane coating can be done onto membrane surface to improve the hydrophobicity of the membrane. Thus, limiting the contact between the foulants-contained solution and membrane surfaces. The novelty of this study is to establish a relationship between various SiO2 nanoparticle concentration and silane concentration on the physical and chemical properties of the fabricated hydrophobic membranes and subsequently their membrane separation performances. A concentration of 1-3 wt% of SiO2 nanoparticles and a silane to ethanol ratio at 1:25, 1:50 and 1:100 was used in membrane fabrication. Various characterization methods have been carried out to study the effects of varied SiO2 concentration and silane concentration on membrane characteristics. These includes water contact angle (WCA), surface roughness, pore size, porosity, membrane morphology and composition. OD was carried out using succinic acid solution as feed and calcium chloride solution as stripping solution. Membrane performance in terms of transmembrane flux and selectivity are correlated to the membrane characteristics. Through this study, PVDF membrane with 1 wt% SiO2 and 1:50 silane to ethanol ratio showed promising results in terms of anti-fouling properties, such as achieving a WCA of 152.86 . This result showed the increment in hydrophobicity property as much as 10  compared to PVDF membrane without the SiO2 and silane modifications. This increment improved the antifouling property of the membrane. Membrane with this formulation has a minimal impact on membrane performance, such as retaining a pore size of 0.4086 m and a final transmembrane flux of 0.6019 kg/m2h over 8 h. Overall, superhydrophobic membrane with better antifouling property can help to concentrate succinic acid that also supports the development of the biorefinery industry.,Master of Science
Pages:	98
Publisher:	UKM, Bangi
Appears in Collections:	Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment / Fakulti Kejuruteraan dan Alam Bina

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