Hydrophilic SiC hollow fiber membranes for low fouling separation of oil-in-water emulsions with high flux

The dry-wetting spinning technique involving immersion-induced phase inversion and dry-sintering was applied to prepare two types of SiC and Al(2)O(3) hollow fiber membranes. The two hollow fiber membranes were characterized in terms of morphology and chemical surface composition by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), water contact angle and zeta potential measurements. The filtration capabilities of the two hollow fiber membranes were assessed by the separation of 200 mg L(−1) synthetic (O/W) emulsions. During the treatment of O/W emulsions, the permeation flux of the SiC hollow fiber membrane was 163.9 L h(−1) m(−2), which was higher than that of the Al(2)O(3) hollow fiber membrane (139.4 L h(−1) m(−2)) at the beginning of the experiment. The membrane surface properties and the filtration results of O/W emulsion microfiltration demonstrated that the SiC hollow fiber membranes with a higher hydrophilicity had higher water flux and better anti-fouling properties.