PREPARATION OF POLY(ETHYLENE-CO-VINYL ALCOHOL) MEMBRANE VIA THERMALLY INDUCED PHASE SEPARATION

Porous membranes were prepared via thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) of (ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol) (EVOH)/glycerol mixtures. The liquid-liquid (L-L) phase boundaries are shifted to higher temperature when the ethylene contents in EVOH increase. Moreover, the kinetic study proved that the growth of droplets formed by the general liquid-liquid (L-L) phase separation obeyed a power-law scaling relationship in the later stage of spinodal decomposition (SD). A new phase separation mechanism was presented, in which the L-L phase separation could be resulted from the crystallization. The hollow fiber membranes were prepared. The membranes showed asymmetric structures with skin layer near the outer surface, the larger pores just below the skin layer and the smaller pores near the inner surface. The effect of ethylene content (EC) in EVOH, cooling water bath temperature and take-up speed on membrane performance was investigated.