Preparation and Separation Properties of Electrospinning Modified Membrane with Ionic Liquid Terminating Polyimide/Polyvinylpyrrolidone@Polydopamine

Abstract

In this paper, superhydrophilic polyimide (PI) membranes were prepared using the electrostatic spinning method, capped with a hydrophilic ionic liquid (IL), and blended with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). Using this preparation, the surface of the fiber membranes was coated in polydopamine (PDA) by means of an in-growth method. Scanning electron micrographs showed prepared blend films can form continuous fibers, for whom the distributions of diameter and pore were uniform. Post-modification (carried out by adding hydrophilic substances), the ability of the membrane surface to adhere to water was also significantly improved. The water contact angle was reduced from 128.97 ± 3.86◦ in unmodified PI to 30.26 ± 2.16◦. In addition, they displayed a good separation effect on emulsified oil/water mixtures. The membrane flux reached a maximum value of 290 L·m−2·h−1, with a maximum separation efficiency reached of more than 99%. After being recycled 10 times, the separation efficiency maintained a level exceeding 95%. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the simplicity and efficiency of this experiment, thereby providing new ideas for the future application of membrane separation technology in wastewater treatment.