PDMS/PVDF hybrid electrospun membrane with superhydrophobic property and drop impact dynamics for dyeing wastewater treatment using membrane distillation

Fouling in membrane distillation (MD) results in an increase in operation costs and deterioration in a water quality. In this work, a poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropene) (PVDF-HFP) electrospun (E-PH) membrane was fabricated by hybridizing polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) polymeric microspheres with superhydrophobicity onto the E-PH membrane via electrospinning. The resulting hybrid PDMS with E-PH (E-PDMS) membrane showed a significant enhancement in surface hydrophobicity (contact angle, CA=155.4°) and roughness (R_a=1285 nm). The zeta potential of E-PDMS membrane surface showed a higher negative value than that of a commercial PVDF (C-PVDF) membrane. These properties of E-PDMS membrane provided an antifouling in treating of differently-charged dyes and generated a flake-like dye–dye (loosely bound foulant) structure on the membrane surface rather than in the membrane pores. This also led to a high productivity of E-PDMS membrane (34 L m⁻²h⁻¹, 50% higher than that of C-PVDF membrane) without fouling or wetting. In addition, complete color removal and pure water production were achieved during a long-term operation. An application of intermittent water flushing (WF) in direct contact MD (DCMD) operation led to a 99% CA recovery of E-PDMS membrane indicating its sustainability. Therefore, the E-PDMS membrane is a promising candidate for MD application in dyeing wastewater treatment.