Preparation of Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF) Hollow Fiber Hemodialysis Membranes

In this study, the polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) hollow fiber hemodialysis membranes were prepared by non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS). The influences of PVDF membrane thickness and polyethylene glycol (PEG) content on membrane morphologies, pore size, mechanical and permeable performance were investigated. It was found that membrane thickness and PEG content affected both the structure and performance of hollow fiber membranes. The tensile strength and rejection of bovine serum albumin (BSA) increased with increasing membrane thickness, while the Ultrafiltration flux (UF) flux of pure water was the opposite. The tensile strength, porosity and rejection of BSA increased with increasing PEG content within a certain range. Compared with commercial F60S membrane, the PVDF hollow fiber membrane showed higher mechanical and permeable performance. It was proven that PVDF material had better hydrophilicity and lower BSA adsorption, which was more suitable for hemodialysis. All the results indicate that PVDF hollow fiber membrane is promising as a hemodialysis membrane.