Facile fabrication of PTFE/PET composite membrane with reinforced hydrophilic and antifouling properties for sustainable decentralized water system purification.

Authors

Ludi Song, Yujie Fang, Xin Chen, Ziyuan Zhou, Liping Chen, Jun Yang, Ying Li, Yaqin Wu, Haitao Zhu, Lin Zhang, Congjie Gao

Published in

Journal of environmental management. Volume 412. Pages 130256. Jun 22, 2026. Epub Jun 22, 2026.

Abstract

Decentralized water supply in rural regions remains a substantial challenge due to complex natural, technical, and economic constraints. Gravity-driven membrane (GDM) systems represent a promising approach for achieving sustainable water purification in such decentralized supply scenarios. This study developed a facile fabrication strategy for crosslinking PTFE/PET composite membranes (c-PTFE/PET) with reinforced hydrophilicity to improve the water permeance and antifouling performance. After acetalization between polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and glutaraldehyde (GA), the c-PTFE/PET membrane exhibited superhydrophilicity, likely driven by abundant hydroxyl groups and increased surface roughness. Density functional theory calculations revealed that strong interactions between the PVA-GA complex layer and H₂O molecules promoted the formation of a dense hydration layer. Compared with conventional PTFE/PET composite membrane, the enhanced properties rendered c-PTFE/PET membrane proficient not only in water permeance (3.17 times), but also outstanding antifouling performance against humic acid and bovine serum albumin solution. Moreover, field application of the resulting GDM system equipped with c-PTFE/PET membrane, with a treatment capacity of 10 m³ day^-1, demonstrated improved effluent quality, reduced microbial community diversity, and elevated economic efficiency. The c-PTFE/PET membrane also maintained its hydrophilicity after prolonged exposure to chemical environments. This work presents a cost-effective, easily implementable, and highly efficient approach for household water purification in underdeveloped regions.

PMID:
42330562
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 23 Jun 2026.

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