Effect of TiO2 nanoparticles on structure and properties of high density polyethylene membranes prepared by thermally induced phase separation method

Polyethylene/TiO2 membranes were fabricated via thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) method. A set of characterization tests including FE-SEM, EDX, XRD, DSC, TGA, DMA, mechanical test and relative pure water flux for characterization of membranes were carried out to investigate the effect of TiO2 nanoparticles on membrane properties. The results of EDX, XRD and TGA analyses confirmed the presence of TiO2 nanoparticles in the polymer matrix. The results of DSC analysis revealed that the melting point as well as the crystallinity of the membranes increased slightly with increasing TiO2 content. However, the glass transition temperature of the membranes was not affected by the presence of particles. Addition of nanoparticles also increased storage modulus, loss modulus and tensile strength at break of the membranes due to the stiffness improvement effect of inorganic TiO2. Finally, it was observed that incorporation of the nanoparticles improved pure water flux of the membranes. Copyright (c) 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.