Trade-off in membrane distillation with monolithic omniphobic membranes

Wei Wang, Xuewei Du, Hamed Vahabi, Song Zhao, Yiming Yin, Arun K. Kota () and Tiezheng Tong ()
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Wei Wang: Colorado State University
Xuewei Du: Colorado State University
Hamed Vahabi: Colorado State University
Song Zhao: Tianjin University
Yiming Yin: Colorado State University
Arun K. Kota: Colorado State University
Tiezheng Tong: Colorado State University

Nature Communications, 2019, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Omniphobic membranes are attractive for membrane distillation (MD) because of their superior wetting resistance. However, a design framework for MD membrane remains incomplete, due to the complexity of omniphobic membrane fabrication and the lack of fundamental relationship between wetting resistance and water vapor permeability. Here we present a particle-free approach that enables rapid fabrication of monolithic omniphobic membranes for MD desalination. Our monolithic omniphobic membranes display excellent wetting resistance and water purification performance in MD desalination of hypersaline feedwater containing surfactants. We identify that a trade-off exists between wetting resistance and water vapor permeability of our monolithic MD membranes. Utilizing membranes with tunable wetting resistance and permeability, we elucidate the underlying mechanism of such trade-off. We envision that our fabrication method as well as the mechanistic insight into the wetting resistance-vapor permeability trade-off will pave the way for smart design of MD membranes in diverse water purification applications.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-11209-6

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