F-POSS based Omniphobic Membrane for Robust Membrane Distillation

A novel omniphobic nanofiber membrane for membrane distillation (MD) was successfully fabricated by one-step electrospinning of PVDF-HFP and fluorinated-decyl polyhedraloligomeric silsesquioxane (F-POSS) colloidal suspension solution. The fabricated F-POSS/PVDF-HFP membrane possessed uniform fiber structures and had extreme high F-POSS concentration on the surface. This F-POSS based membrane exhibited excellent omniphobicity, as indicated by its wetting resistance to different low surface tension liquids, including ethanol with a contact angle of 128.2°. Membrane distillation (MD) experiments showed that the water flux and water quality were stably maintained in highly saline feed solutions containing low surface tension substances, which successfully demonstrated its potential application for desalination of challenging industrial wastewater.