Effect of Polymer Dissolution Temperature and Conditioning Time on the Morphological and Physicochemical Characteristics of Poly(Vinylidene Fluoride) Membranes Prepared by Non-Solvent Induced Phase Separation

This work reports on the production of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) membranes by non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS) using N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) as solvent and water as non-solvent. The influence of the processing conditions in the morphology, surface characteristics, structure, thermal and mechanical properties were evaluated for polymer dissolution temperatures between 25 and 150 °C and conditioning time between 0 and 10 min. Finger-like pore morphology was obtained for all membranes and increasing the polymer dissolution temperature led to an increase in the average pore size (≈0.9 and 2.1 µm), porosity (≈50 to 90%) and water contact angle (up to 80°), in turn decreasing the β PVDF content (≈67 to 20%) with the degree of crystallinity remaining approximately constant (≈56%). The conditioning time did not significantly affect the polymer properties studied. Thus, the control of NIPS parameters proved to be suitable for tailoring PVDF membrane properties.

Polyacrylamide flocculants in phase separation processes of mineral ore salt dispersions

The features of clay-saline (potassium and sodium chlorides) dispersions flocculation using polyacrylamide and its cationic and anionic copolymers are described, including the effect of flocculant concentration, solid concentration in dispersion, method of polymer dissolution in water or saline solution on the sedimentation rate and flocculation density. It is shown that polyacrylamide has the highest flocculating ability towards clay-saline dispersion, and cationic copolymers – the lowest effect. It is shown that in concentrated clay dispersions flocculation starts at lower flocculant dose rate and occurs in a narrow range of polymer concentrations. The sedimentation rate of clay in salt dispersion increases by 15–20% with the introduction of flocculant in two stages, and by 50% times – with consequent dosing of cationic and anionic flocculant. It is also stated that polymer solutions prepared using concentrated salt solutions of potassium and sodium chlorides provide a higher efficiency of clay flocculation in comparison with solutions of polymers prepared in water.