Structure and Properties of Meltblown Polyetherimide as High Temperature Filter Media

Authors: Gajanan Bhat, Vincent Kandagor, Daniel Prather, Ramesh Bhave

Abstract:

Polyetherimide (PEI), an engineering plastic with very high glass transition temperature and excellent chemical and thermal stability, has been processed into a controlled porosity filter media of varying pore size, performance, and surface characteristics. A special grade of the PEI was processed by melt blowing to produce microfiber nonwovens suitable as filter media. The resulting microfiber webs were characterized to evaluate their structure and properties. The fiber webs were further modified by hot pressing, a post processing technique, which reduces the pore size in order to improve the barrier properties of the resulting membranes. This ongoing research has shown that PEI can be a good candidate for filter media requiring high temperature and chemical resistance with good mechanical properties. Also, by selecting the appropriate processing conditions, it is possible to achieve desired filtration performance from this engineering plastic.

Keywords: Nonwovens, melt blowing, polyehterimide, filter media, microfibers.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1131267

References:

[1] Bhat, G.S. and Malkan, S. R., “Extruded continuous filament nonwovens: Advances in scientific aspects” Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 2002. 83(3): p. 572-585.
[2] Wadsworth, L.C., and Malkan, S. R, “A Review of Melt Blowing Technology,” INB Nonwovens, 1991: p. 2.
[3] Bhat G. S. and Malkan S. R., “Polymer Laid Web Formation,’ in Handbook of Nonwovens, Woodhead Publishing, 2003, 760, p143.
[4] Hegde, R. and Bhat, G. S., “Nanoparticle Effects on Structure and Properties of Polypropylene Meltblown Webs,” Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 115 (2), 1062-1072 (2010).
[5] Yesil, Y. and Bhat, G., “Porosity and Barrier Properties of Polyethylene Melt Blown Nonwovens,” Journal of Textile Institute, 108:6, 1035-1040, (2016). http://dx.doi.org/:10.1080/00405000.2016.121810.
[6] Hiremath, N. and Bhat, G, “Melt blown Polymeric Nanofibers for Medical Applications-An Overview” Nanosci Technol 2 (1): pp 1-9 (2015).
[7] http://www.hycompinc.com/PDFs/ULTEMProductBrochure.pdf (retrieved on April 20, 2017).
[8] Dai, Y., et al., “Ultem((R))/ZIF-8 mixed matrix hollow fiber membranes for CO2/N-2 separations” Journal of Membrane Science, 2012. 401: p. 76-82.
[9] Bhat, G. S., Wapner, P. G. and Hoffman, W. P. “Processing of a high temperature imide copolymer into hollow fibers” Materials and Manufacturing Processes, 2000. 15(4): p. 533-545.
[10] Han, W, Wang, X. and Bhat, G. S., “Structure and Air Permeability of Melt Blown Nanofiber Webs,” Journal of Nanomaterials and Molecular Nanotechnology, 2013. 2:3.
[11] Davies, G. M., Seaton, N. A., and Vassiliadis, V. S., "Calculation of pore size distributions of activated carbons from adsorption isotherms," Langmuir, 1999. 15(23): p. 8235-8245.
[12] Yesil, Y. and Bhat, G. “Structure and Mechanical Properties of Polyethylene Melt Blown Nonwovens,” International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology, 28 (6), 780-793 (2016). http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJCST-09-2015-0099.
[13] Lee, Y. and Wadsworth, L. C., "Effects of Melt-Blowing Process Conditions on Morphological and Mechanical-Properties of Polypropylene Webs," Polymer, 1992. 33(6): p. 1200-1209.
[14] Kandagor, C. V., “Nanolayer Polymeric Coatings to Enhance the Performance and Service Life of Inorganic Membranes for High Temperature-High Pressure Biomass Pretreatment and Other Applications,” PhD Thesis, The University of Tennessee: Knoxville, TN. 2014.