Wetting Resistance of Saturated Fatty Acid-Coated PVDF Hollow Fiber Membrane for Efficient Seawater Desalination Via Membrane Distillation

• Published in: ARABIAN JOURNAL FOR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
• Main Authors: Iqbal, Rendy Muhamad; Othman, Mohd Hafiz Dzarfan; Mokhter, Mohd Akmali; Khaerudini, Deni Shidqi; Ming, Liew Chia; Fansuri, Hamzah; Puteh, Mohd Hafiz; Rahman, Mazlinda Ab
• Format: Article; Early Access
• Language: English
• Published: SPRINGER HEIDELBERG 2025
• Subjects: Science & Technology - Other Topics
• Online Access: https://www-webofscience-com.uitm.idm.oclc.org/wos/woscc/full-record/WOS:001438909100001
• ISSN: 2193-567X; 2191-4281
• DOI: 10.1007/s13369-025-10075-3

Globally, freshwater scarcity has become critical due to the spiraling demand created by an increasing global population. Hence, seawater desalination was rapidly becoming a key solution for significant growth. One of desalination technologies was membrane distillation (MD). Fluorination techniques have traditionally created hydrophobic membranes for MD. Saturated fatty acids (SFAs) serve as an intriguing alternative to enterprise nonfluorination approaches. We examined the influence of selected SFA (lauric, myristic, palmitic and stearic acids) on properties as well membrane performance in MD process for polyvinine fluoride (PVDF) hollow fiber membranes. Membranes were prepared by dip coating the as-synthesized membrane in 1% SFA solution. The characterization included scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy as well as tests of liquid entry pressure, coating stability, and the performance in direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD). Membranes coated with myristic, palmitic and stearic acid exhibited water contact angles > 90 degrees, illustrating anti-wettability improvements. The stearic acid-coated membrane displayed the largest water vapor flux (18.4 L/m2 h) and almost 100% salt rejection, being worthy to mention among others. The corresponding results confirm that the stearic acid may well be a better coating for PVDF membrane modification in DCMD desalination of seawater.