Synthesis and Properties of Polysulfones for Fabricating Porous Hollow-Fiber Membranes

Polysulfones are synthesized in aprotic dipolar solvents, such as dimethylacetamide, N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone, and dimethyl sulfoxide, in a wide range of molecular weights from 42 000 to 184 000 g/mol for hollow-fiber membranes spinning for the first time. Dependence of the thermal and mechanical properties of polysulfones on molecular weight characteristics is investigated. A comparison of the mechanical properties of the synthesized PSF and commercial PSF Ultrason S 6010 (BASF, Germany) and PSF-150 (JSC Institute of Plastics, Russia) shows that the synthesized polymers are not inferior to their commercial analogs and some samples even surpass them in terms of the elastic modulus and strength. According to the dynamic viscosity of spinning solutions, promising PSF samples are chosen to form porous hollow-fiber supports. It is demonstrated that the hollow-fiber supports based on PSF with a molecular weight of 110 000 g/mol have a high nitrogen permeability of 47.5 m³/(m² h bar). These supports show promise for casting composite membranes with a thin selective layer.