Membrane distillation (MD) has recently attracted attention as a promising solution to the freshwater crisis. We report a pore-size tunable superhydrophobic membrane for application in the MD process. The tuning of the pore size is accomplished by applying mechanical strain to the stretchable superhydrophobic (SS) membrane. The SS membrane was made using a simple fabrication process that involved electrospinning and electrospraying. Various parameters of the membrane, including the pore size, the pore-size distribution, the contact angle, and the liquid entry pressure, were tested while mechanical strains were applied. The SS membrane was used in direct contact membrane distillation. The MD performance of the membrane, according to the applied mechanical strain, was studied, and the optimal strain applied was determined in terms of the permeate flux, the rejection rate, and the membrane longevity. As anticipated, increasing the pore size of the membrane enhanced the permeate flux. With the optimal mechanical strain, the SS membrane exhibited one of the highest permeate flux values ever reported at 36.5 L/m²h and stable permeate conductivity for a transmembrane temperature of 40 °C (3.5 wt% NaCl salt feed) over 5 h of MD operation. Furthermore, the MD performance of the SS membrane, according to the applied mechanical strain, was theoretically studied through computing simulation and was compared to the experimental results. The pore-size tunable superhydrophobic membrane presented in this study would provide a means of exploring what type of impact the membrane pore size has in MD both experimentally and theoretically.

膜蒸馏 (MD) 最近作为淡水危机的一种有前途的解决方案引起了人们的注意。我们报告了一种用于 MD 过程的孔径可调超疏水膜。孔径的调整是通过对可拉伸的超疏水 (SS) 膜施加机械应变来实现的。SS 膜是使用简单的制造工艺制成的，包括静电纺丝和电喷雾。在施加机械应变的同时测试膜的各种参数，包括孔径、孔径分布、接触角和液体进入压力。SS 膜用于直接接触膜蒸馏。根据施加的机械应变，研究了膜的 MD 性能，根据渗透通量、截留率和膜寿命确定施加的最佳应变。正如预期的那样，增加膜的孔径会提高渗透通量。在最佳机械应变下，SS 膜表现出有史以来最高的渗透通量值之一，为 36.5 L/m²小时和稳定的渗透电导率在 40 °C 的跨膜温度（3.5 wt% NaCl 盐进料）超过 5 小时的 MD 操作。此外，根据施加的机械应变，SS 膜的 MD 性能通过计算模拟进行了理论研究，并与实验结果进行了比较。本研究中提出的孔径可调超疏水膜将提供一种手段，可以从实验和理论上探索膜孔径对 MD 的影响类型。