Formation of polymeric filtration membranes by the combination of emulsion and breath figures approach

Membrane filtration is one of the most significant water treatment advances in recent years. Its benefits on the membranes ability to keep undesired substances out of the permeate, while yet maintaining a sufficient water filtration flow. This is accomplished by presence of interconnected pores along the polymeric membrane with adequate pore size. The formation of membranes with suitable interconnected pores is still challenging. Therefore, in this research, we investigate the formation of pores in polymeric membranes using two pore formation methodologies simultaneously. The selected techniques were the breath figures approach and the emulsion technique, using poly methyl methacrylate as selected polymer. We characterized the pores in the polymeric membranes when using the individual techniques or in combination, including the average pore size, the porosity, and the water permeation flux. In addition, detailed SEM observations were included of the top, bottom, and cross-section of the membranes to identify the connectivity of the pores. The porosity of the membranes produced by the combination of the techniques is mainly caused by the coalescence of the droplets and the formation of multi-layer pores with an interconnection between them. The surfactant employed has a crucial role to forming interconnected pores, since it allows better stability of the water droplets on the membrane surface, as well as the formation of micelles in the bulk of the solvent/polymer solution. The breath figures–emulsion approach technique provides a new technique for the formation of polymeric membranes with characteristics suitable for water filtration.