Study on the fabrication and properties of polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) membrane and its application in VMD

Polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) membranes were fabricated via a thermally induced phase separation method using mixed diluent of epsilon-caprolactam (CPL) and diphenyl sulfone (DPS). The effect of changing the CPL/DPS weight ratio on the structure and properties of prepared PPS membranes were investigated. The morphologies and performances of obtained PPS membranes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, static water contact angles, mechanical strength, porosity, permeability and salt rejection rate. The characterized results showed that the morphologies of PPS membrane changed from cellular, bi-continuous to spherulitic structure with the increase of CPL/DPS mass ratio. PPS membranes exhibited the excellent stability and high salt rejection ratio in VMD experiments. The largest permeate flux stabilized at 10.63 L/(m 2 ·h 1 ) and the highest salt rejection remained above 98.9% after operating for 10 h.