Zeolite-Based Poly(vinylidene fluoride) Ultrafiltration Membrane: Characterization and Molecular Weight Cut-Off Estimation with Support Vector Regression Modelling

Chan, Mieow Kee and Tan, Syee Jia and Yeow, Andrew T.H. and Ng, Sok Choo and Lau, Woei Jye (2024) Zeolite-Based Poly(vinylidene fluoride) Ultrafiltration Membrane: Characterization and Molecular Weight Cut-Off Estimation with Support Vector Regression Modelling. Membranes, 14 (4). p. 91. ISSN 2077-0375, DOI https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes14040091.

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes14040091

Abstract

Zeolite serves as a promising additive for enhancing the hydrophilicity of polymeric membranes, yet its utilization for bolstering the mechanical strength of the membrane remains limited. In this study, poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) membranes were modified by incorporating various concentrations of zeolite (0.5-2 wt%) to improve not only their mechanical properties, but also other features for water filtration. Membranes with and without zeolite incorporation were fabricated via a dry-wet phase inversion technique, followed by the application of a series of characterization techniques in order to study their morphological structure, mechanical strength, and hydrophilicity. The membrane filtration performance for each membrane was evaluated based on pure water flux and Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) rejection. Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) images revealed a dense, microvoid-free structure across all of the PVDF membranes, contributing to a high pristine PVDF membrane tensile strength of 14 MPa. The addition of 0.5 wt% zeolite significantly improved the tensile strength up to 19.4 MPa. Additionally, the incorporation of 1 wt% zeolite into PVDF membrane yielded improvements in membrane hydrophilicity (contact angle of 67.84 degrees), pure water flux (63.49% increase), and high BSA rejection (95.76%) compared to pristine PVDF membranes. To further improve the characterization of the zeolite-modified PVDF membranes, the Support Vector Regression (SVR) model was adopted to estimate the molecular weight cut off (MWCO) of the membranes. A coefficient of determination (R2) value of 0.855 was obtained, suggesting that the SVR model predicted the MWCO accurately. The findings of this study showed that the utilization of zeolite is promising in enhancing both the mechanical properties and separation performance of PVDF membranes for application in ultrafiltration processes.

Item Type: Article
Funders: SEGi University
Uncontrolled Keywords: dry-wet phase inversion; mechanical properties; poly(vinylidene fluoride); zeolite; support vector regression
Subjects: T Technology > TP Chemical technology
Divisions: Faculty of Engineering > Department of Chemical Engineering
Depositing User: Ms. Juhaida Abd Rahim
Date Deposited: 14 Oct 2024 08:43
Last Modified: 14 Oct 2024 08:43
URI: http://eprints.um.edu.my/id/eprint/45349

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