ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author introduces the fundamentals of membrane fabrication principles for various membrane materials used in membrane distillation (MD). Since different polymeric and ceramic materials can be utilized to prepare MD membranes, the fabrication methods would differ for each material. Thus, this chapter is structured to discuss the fabrication principles for the four most common MD materials (i.e., polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), polytetrafluoro-ethylene, polypropylene, and ceramic) one by one. More focus is given to PVDF membrane fabrication, as it is the most widely studied MD membrane. The fundamentals of nonsolvent-induced phase separation and thermally induced phase separation techniques will be discussed in detail. The effects of process parameters on membrane formation mechanism and resultant membrane morphology will be elucidated.
