A new two-stage method for producing porous membranes based on polyphenylene sulfide

A new two-stage method for the fabrication of a porous membrane from polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) was proposed. The approach involves the production of PPS films with a filler and the subsequent removal of the filler material from the film to form a porous structure. Polyarylene sulfones, such as polysulfone (PSF), polyethersulfone, and polyphenylene sulfone (PPSU), were investigated as fillers for the first time. The concentration of the pore-forming additive was 30 % (wt.). The filler was extracted from the films through thermolysis in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) for 12 h at different temperatures (70, 90, and 202 °C). Thermolysis conditions for the complete removal of PSF and PPSU from the PPS film were found empirically. The porous structure of the resulting PPS membranes was examined using scanning electron microscopy, liquid porometry, and gas permeability testing for specific gases (He, N 2 , and CO 2 ). The samples of porous membranes from PPS with an average pore diameter of 160 nm, corresponding to the range of microfiltration, were o btained.