Formation of iPP Microporous membranes via thermally induced phase separation: Effect of Polymer concentration on membrane morphology

The effect of the polymer concentration on the morphology of the resulting microporous membrane was investigated for membrane formation via thermally induced phase separation (TIPS). Isotactic polypropylene (iPP) and diphenyl ether (DPE) were used as a polymer and diluent, respectively. The homogeneous polymer-diluent samples (20, 40 and 60 wt.% iPP) were prepared by previous method. An anisotropic membrane structure was obtained by evaporating the diluent from one side prior to phase separation. Morphology and pore size were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The SEM micrographs revealed that the morphology of the membrane changes from a typical bicontinuous structure to a cellular structure by increase of polymer concentration. Furthermore, the pore size becomes smaller when higher polymer concentration mixture is applied.

Formation of iPP Microporous membranes via thermally induced phase separation: Effect of Polymer concentration on membrane morphology Keywords:

Thermally induced phase separation , Isotactic polypropylene , Microporous membrane , Polymer concentration