Study on structure and properties of tubular braid-reinforced poly(lactic acid) (PLA) hollow fiber membranes

The tubular braid-reinforced (BR) poly(lactic acid) (PLA) hollow fiber membranes were prepared by concentric circular spinning technology in this study. The effect of polyethylene glycol (PEG) molecular weight on the structure and properties of the homogenous-reinforced (HMR) PLA hollow fiber membranes was investigated. Besides, the effect of tubular braid materials on the interfacial bonding performance was also studied. The results showed that with the increase of PEG molecular weight, the mean pore size showed a decreasing trend and the membrane surface became rougher which induced the hydrophilicity to increase. In addition, the water flux of the membranes increased first and then decreased. While, the BSA rejection and the anti-fouling performance increased with the increase of PEG molecular weight. When the PEG molecular weight was 10,000, obtained membranes exhibited a high pure water flux of 135.8 L m(-2)h(-1) and BSA rejection of 96.1%. It was also found that the interfacial adhesion of HMR PLA hollow fiber membranes was better than that of the heterogeneous-reinforced (HTR) PLA hollow fiber membranes.