Comparison of two low-hazard organic solvents as individual and cosolvents for the fabrication of polysulfone membranes

Xiaobo Dong; Halle D. Shannon; Caleb Parker; Samantha De Jesus; Isabel C. Escobar

doi:10.1002/aic.16790

Comparison of two low-hazard organic solvents as individual and cosolvents for the fabrication of polysulfone membranes

Xiaobo Dong
, Halle D. Shannon
, Caleb Parker
, Samantha De Jesus
, Isabel C. Escobar

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

27 Scopus citations

Abstract

Petroleum-derived solvents commonly used in membrane fabrication are often hazardous and toxic, so the investigation of safer alternatives is important. In this study, two low-hazard solvents, methyl 5-(dimethylamino)-2-methyl-5-oxopentanoate (Rhodiasolv® PolarClean) and gamma-valerolactone (GVL), were investigated as sole solvents and as cosolvents to cast polysulfone membranes via nonsolvent induced phase inversion. Normalized viscosity was introduced as an indicator of dope solution homogeneity and was used to compare the required time of mixing to achieve full dissolution of the polymer in the different solvents/solvent mixtures. All dope solutions made with low-hazard solvents were found to be more viscous than those made with traditional solvents, which meant additional mixing time was needed, and that fabricated membranes were morphologically different. With respect to operation, membranes cast from dope solutions containing equal amounts of PolarClean and GVL displayed the most similar flux curves and solute rejection to those made using the traditional solvent tested.

Original language	English
Article number	e16790
Journal	AICHE Journal
Volume	66
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/aic.16790
State	Published - Jan 1 2020

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 American Institute of Chemical Engineers

Funding

The authors acknowledge that this work was supported by the National Science Foundation under Cooperative Agreement (grant number 1355438) and by the NSF KY EPSCoR Program. The authors acknowledge Solvay Novecare for providing PolarClean, Dr. Matthew Weisenburger in Center of Applied Energy Research, University of Kentucky, for his help with rheometer, and Dr. Wenxin Cao and Professor Fuqian Yang for their help on AFM. The authors acknowledge that this work was supported by the National Science Foundation under Cooperative Agreement (grant number 1355438) and by the NSF KY EPSCoR Program. The authors acknowledge Solvay Novecare for providing PolarClean, Dr. Matthew Weisenburger in Center of Applied Energy Research, University of Kentucky, for his help with rheometer, and Dr. Wenxin Cao and Professor Fuqian Yang for their help on AFM.

Funders	Funder number
Kentucky-NSF EPSCoR Program
Solvay Novecare
U.S. Department of Energy Chinese Academy of Sciences Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Project Oak Ridge National Laboratory Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment National Science Foundation National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center National Natural Science Foundation of China	1355438
U.S. Department of Energy Chinese Academy of Sciences Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Project Oak Ridge National Laboratory Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment National Science Foundation National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center National Natural Science Foundation of China

Keywords

low-hazard solvents
nonsolvent induced phase separation (NIPS)
normalized viscosity (NV)
polymeric membranes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Biotechnology
Environmental Engineering
General Chemical Engineering

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10.1002/aic.16790

Cite this

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title = "Comparison of two low-hazard organic solvents as individual and cosolvents for the fabrication of polysulfone membranes",

abstract = "Petroleum-derived solvents commonly used in membrane fabrication are often hazardous and toxic, so the investigation of safer alternatives is important. In this study, two low-hazard solvents, methyl 5-(dimethylamino)-2-methyl-5-oxopentanoate (Rhodiasolv{\textregistered} PolarClean) and gamma-valerolactone (GVL), were investigated as sole solvents and as cosolvents to cast polysulfone membranes via nonsolvent induced phase inversion. Normalized viscosity was introduced as an indicator of dope solution homogeneity and was used to compare the required time of mixing to achieve full dissolution of the polymer in the different solvents/solvent mixtures. All dope solutions made with low-hazard solvents were found to be more viscous than those made with traditional solvents, which meant additional mixing time was needed, and that fabricated membranes were morphologically different. With respect to operation, membranes cast from dope solutions containing equal amounts of PolarClean and GVL displayed the most similar flux curves and solute rejection to those made using the traditional solvent tested.",

keywords = "low-hazard solvents, nonsolvent induced phase separation (NIPS), normalized viscosity (NV), polymeric membranes",

author = "Xiaobo Dong and Shannon, \{Halle D.\} and Caleb Parker and \{De Jesus\}, Samantha and Escobar, \{Isabel C.\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019 American Institute of Chemical Engineers",

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doi = "10.1002/aic.16790",

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AU - Shannon, Halle D.

AU - Parker, Caleb

AU - De Jesus, Samantha

AU - Escobar, Isabel C.

PY - 2020/1/1

Y1 - 2020/1/1

N2 - Petroleum-derived solvents commonly used in membrane fabrication are often hazardous and toxic, so the investigation of safer alternatives is important. In this study, two low-hazard solvents, methyl 5-(dimethylamino)-2-methyl-5-oxopentanoate (Rhodiasolv® PolarClean) and gamma-valerolactone (GVL), were investigated as sole solvents and as cosolvents to cast polysulfone membranes via nonsolvent induced phase inversion. Normalized viscosity was introduced as an indicator of dope solution homogeneity and was used to compare the required time of mixing to achieve full dissolution of the polymer in the different solvents/solvent mixtures. All dope solutions made with low-hazard solvents were found to be more viscous than those made with traditional solvents, which meant additional mixing time was needed, and that fabricated membranes were morphologically different. With respect to operation, membranes cast from dope solutions containing equal amounts of PolarClean and GVL displayed the most similar flux curves and solute rejection to those made using the traditional solvent tested.

AB - Petroleum-derived solvents commonly used in membrane fabrication are often hazardous and toxic, so the investigation of safer alternatives is important. In this study, two low-hazard solvents, methyl 5-(dimethylamino)-2-methyl-5-oxopentanoate (Rhodiasolv® PolarClean) and gamma-valerolactone (GVL), were investigated as sole solvents and as cosolvents to cast polysulfone membranes via nonsolvent induced phase inversion. Normalized viscosity was introduced as an indicator of dope solution homogeneity and was used to compare the required time of mixing to achieve full dissolution of the polymer in the different solvents/solvent mixtures. All dope solutions made with low-hazard solvents were found to be more viscous than those made with traditional solvents, which meant additional mixing time was needed, and that fabricated membranes were morphologically different. With respect to operation, membranes cast from dope solutions containing equal amounts of PolarClean and GVL displayed the most similar flux curves and solute rejection to those made using the traditional solvent tested.

KW - low-hazard solvents

KW - nonsolvent induced phase separation (NIPS)

KW - normalized viscosity (NV)

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Comparison of two low-hazard organic solvents as individual and cosolvents for the fabrication of polysulfone membranes

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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