Constructing superhydrophobic surface of PES/PES-SiO2 mixed matrix membrane contactors for efficient SO2 capture

Obtaining high SO 2 absorption flux for membrane contactor is noticeably vital for fule gas desulfurization, and superhydrophobic surface is essential to reach excellent desulfurization performance. The development of a generic and low budget strategy for membrane contactors preparation is important in indisturial application. In this study, a superhydrophobic polyethersulfone-silica (PES/PES-SiO 2 ) gas-liquid membrane contactor is fabricated using a facile spin coating method. PES substrate is prepared by a facile non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS), and then the superhydrophobic surface of PES/PES-SiO 2 is formed on the PES substrate by spin coating method. The solubility parameters of mixed solvent, PES concentration, and SiO 2 content are regulated to investigate the morphology of membrane contactors. On one hand, the surface structure of MMMCs is regulated, and constructs lotus-leaf like morphology, which noticeably elevate surface roughness. On the other hand, SiO 2 nanoparticles enhance hydrophobic characteristic with water contact angle 159° and anti wetting resistance with liquid entry pressure of water (LEP w ) 1.389 bar. Moreover, the SiO 2 nanoparticles help to significantly improve the stability of desulfurization performance, which is much higher than PES control membrane after 12 h test. The SO 2 absorption fluxes and SO 2 removal efficiencies are 1.24 × 10 −3 mol·m −2 ·s −1 and 63.8%, respectively. Besides, the membrane phase transfer coefficient ( K m ) and membrane phase transfer resistance ( H / K m ) are explored.