The effect of heat-treatment on the ultrafiltration performance of polyethersulfone (PES) hollow-fiber membranes

Polyethersulfone (PES) hollow-fiber membranes were prepared by the dry-wet spinning method and then heated in an oven at different temperatures to investigate the effect of heat-treatment on their ultrafiltration performance. It was found that the hollow-fiber membranes shrank by heat treatment, as evidenced by a decrease in flux and an increase in solute separation, although there was no visible change in the hollow-fiber dimension. The best results were obtained when the hollow fibers were heated at 150degreesC. A further investigation was made on the effect of the heating period, while the temperature was fixed to 150degreesC. It was found that the best combination of the temperature and the heating period was 150degreesC and 5 min.