Highly permeable and mechanically robust silicon carbide hollow fiber membranes: Supplementary Video

Silicon carbide (SiC) membranes have shown large potential for applications in water treatment. Being able to make these membranes in a hollow fiber geometry allows for higher surface-to-volume ratios. In this study, we present a thermal treatment procedure that is tuned to produce porous silicon carbide hollow fiber membranes with sufficient mechanical strength. Thermal treatments up to 1500 °C in either nitrogen or argon resulted in relatively strong fibers, that were still contaminated with residual carbon from the polymer binder. After treatment at a higher temperature of 1790 °C, the mechanical strength had decreased as a result of carbon removal, but after treatments at even higher temperature of 2075 °C the SiC-particles sinter together, resulting in fibers with mechanical strengths of 30–40 MPa and exceptionally high water permeabilities of 50,000 L m−2 h−1 bar−1. In this supplementary video we demonstrate the mechanical robustness and extreme clean water fluxes in a visual manner.

碳化硅（Silicon carbide, SiC）膜在水处理领域展现出巨大的应用潜力。将此类膜制备为中空纤维构型，可获得更高的比表面积与体积之比。本研究提出一套经优化调控的热处理工艺，可制备出具备足够机械强度的多孔碳化硅中空纤维膜。在氮气或氩气氛围下进行最高1500℃的热处理，可得到强度较好的纤维，但仍残留有聚合物粘结剂引入的碳杂质。当热处理温度提升至1790℃时，由于碳杂质被脱除，纤维的机械强度有所下降；而当温度进一步升高至2075℃时，碳化硅颗粒发生烧结，所得纤维的机械强度可达30~40 MPa，且水渗透率高达50000 L·m⁻²·h⁻¹·bar⁻¹。本补充视频以可视化方式展示了该纤维膜的机械稳定性与极高的净水通量。