In this study, an electrohydrodynamic atomization or electrospraying technique is used for the uniform deposition of carbon nanotubes (CNT) on a commercially available PTFE membrane and employed for Membrane Distillation (MD) process. Modified PTFE-CNT membrane was characterized for water contact angle, liquid entry pressure (LEP), pore size distribution, and surface morphology. The electrospray coating of CNT on the PTFE membrane enhances the turbulence and thereby the temperature polarization coefficient (TPC). The pore size of the micropatterned PTFE-CNT membrane has been reduced and pore size distribution has been narrowed compared to the PTFE membrane. Field-effect scanning electron microscopy images of the membranes were observed before and after the MD process. Functionally graded PTFE-CNT membrane showed superior desalination performance compared to the PTFE membrane with less amount of cake layer formation on the membrane surface. Water vapor flux remained constant during 24-h continuous MD process operation with 99.99% rejection of inorganic salts.

在这项研究中，电流体动力雾化或电喷雾技术用于碳纳米管 (CNT) 在市售 PTFE 膜上的均匀沉积，并用于膜蒸馏 (MD) 过程。对改性 PTFE-CNT 膜的水接触角、液体进入压力 (LEP)、孔径分布和表面形态进行了表征。PTFE 膜上的 CNT 电喷涂涂层增强了湍流，从而增强了温度极化系数 (TPC)。与 PTFE 膜相比，微图案化 PTFE-CNT 膜的孔径减小，孔径分布变窄。在 MD 过程之前和之后观察膜的场效应扫描电子显微镜图像。与 PTFE 膜相比，功能梯度 PTFE-CNT 膜具有优异的脱盐性能，膜表面形成的滤饼层较少。在 24 小时连续 MD 过程操作期间，水蒸气通量保持恒定，无机盐去除率为 99.99%。