Production of polyamide-12 membranes for microfiltration through selective laser sintering

This study investigates the feasibility of manufacturing polyamide-12 microfiltration membranes through selective laser sintering (SLS). This process is different from traditional solvent casting methods, which have limited control over the membrane structure. The SLS technique also eliminates the usage of solvent, which lowers the production cost and avoids environmental issues. In this study, different processing parameters including laser power, hatch spacing and laser scan count are used to optimize the membrane performance. The laser energy density is shown to be directly linked with pure water flux and rejection. A laser energy density of 0.1 J/mm2 results in membranes with the highest rejection and relatively high pure water flux. This work offers an alternative approach for fabrication of membranes for microfiltration. The findings in this exploratory study offer a perspective for optimization of membrane performance in future work.