Farnam Mahmoudi - Department of Chemical Engineering, Babol University of Technology, Babol, Iran
Ava Salehi - Department of Chemical Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran
Mohsen Taghavijeloudar - Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Seoul National University, ۱۵۱-۷۴۴,Seoul, South Korea

Membrane distillation is a promising technology for seawater desalination, but it faces thechallenges of membrane wetting and fouling. To address these issues, we fabricated a novelF-SiO۲@PVDF membrane by spray-coating fluorinated SiO۲ nanoparticles onto a porouspolyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) substrate. Surface morphology, chemical composition, andstability of the nanoparticles and the membranes were analyzed using various characterizationtechniques (e.g. TEM, FE-SEM, FTIR). According to the results, the fabricated F-SiO۲@PVDFmembrane showed a high contact angle of ۱۶۹.۷° and a low sliding angle (<۱۰°), indicatingexcellent superhydrophobic properties In addition, the superhydrophobic membranes showedstable flux and excellent salt rejection (۹۹.۹%) in a ۲۴ h AGMD test in seawater desalination,indicating outstanding anti-wetting and anti-fouling performance. The results of our researchdemonstrated that the prepared superhydrophobic F-SiO۲@PVDF membranes not only hadhigh permeability and good anti-wetting properties but also exhibited satisfying stability forseawater desalination through air gap membrane distillation.

Seawater desalination, Membrane distillation, Superhydrophobic surface, Antiwetting,Anti-fouling