Superhydrophobic modification of TiO2 nanocomposite PVDF membranes for applications in membrane distillation

▸ A superhydrophobic PVDF membrane with water contact angle of 163° was prepared. ▸ Super-hydrophobicity is a result of multi-level roughness and low surface energy. ▸ Titania coating provides hierarchical structure and site for functionalization. ▸ Significant increase in flux recovery for modified membrane was obtained.