Performance of polylactic acid membrane in membrane distillation process

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 nooshirvani university of technology

2 Associated Professor, Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Babol Noshirvani University of Technology

3 Babol Noshirvani University of Technology

4 Babol University of Medical Sciences

10.22063/jipst.2026.35757.2415

Abstract

Hypothesis: The water scarcity is one of the greatest challenges of today’s human societies and due to the rapid growth of populations and increasing the urbanization, industrial development, global climate changes and at the same time, the warming of the planet; it has been intensified in the recent years. In these conditions, the water treatment and the water resource management have gained great importance for various industries such as oil and gas, food, power plants, etc. Various technologies based on the heat and membranes have been introduced for water treatment and in recent years, the membrane distillation process attracted the attentions due to its advantages compared to the conventional processes (such as high energy efficiency and low operational costs). However, the need for membrane improvement and modification of its properties is still felt. The use of biodegradable polymers is one of the proposed solutions so that this technology can be more optimized and economically viable.

Methods: In this study, through the application of biodegradable polymer polylactic acid, membranes were synthesized by the phase inversion method at three polymer concentrations of 16%, 17%, and 19%. The membrane characterization tests such as mean pore size, liquid entry pressure, contact angle and porosity were performed. Subsequently, the membranes were applied in the membrane distillation process for the treatment of synthetic wastewater with high salt content.

Finding: The purification flux (1.46 kg/m²/h for the 17% PLA membrane) and salt rejection (92.7% for the 17% PLA membrane) demonstrated the capability of the PLA membrane to be utilized in the membrane distillation process. In addition, the long-term performance of the 19% PLA membrane was evaluated over 16 hours, during which its flux increased from 0.17 kg/m²/h to 0.99 kg/m²/h and its salt rejection declined from 100% to 46.52%.

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Iranian Journal of Polymer Science and Technology

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 13 May 2026

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