Effect of bore liquid temperature and dope concentration on mechanical properties and permeation performance of polyacrylonitrile hollow fibers

Asymmetric polyacrylonitrile (PAN) hollow fiber membranes were fabricated via the dry-jet wet spinning process. Water at various temperatures was used as the bore liquid. The effects of the dope concentration and the bore liquid temperature on the hollow fiber mechanical properties and permeation performance were investigated. The internal surface and cross-section of the resulting hollow fibers were examined using a scanning electron microscopy (SEM), porosity (ɛ) and the mechanical properties were measured. Dextran of four molecular weights was used to measure the retention. The results show that the tensile strength increased with the dope concentration of polymer and the decrease of bore liquid temperature. In addition, hollow fibers spun from higher dope concentration using lower bore liquid temperature would exhibit lower hydraulic permeability and higher retention.