The use of amine and polyetheramine hardeners in end sealing compounds for hollow fiber membrane modules

The geometry and structure of hollow fiber membranes fabricated from polysulfone by the dry-wet phase inversion method were studied with the help of scanning electron microscopy. Various amine hardeners and difunctional polyetheramines were analyzed as potential components of sealing compounds. The fabricated hollow fiber membranes were sealed in model membrane modules using epoxy sealing compounds with different hardeners. The applicability of these materials was assessed based on the presence of defects when gases were supplied under pressure at the contact point between the membrane and the epoxy. The use of polyetheramine as an amine hardener for the epoxy systems caused no defects at the point of contact between the hollow fiber membranes and the epoxy compound, even when pressures up to 0.5 atm were applied. This ensures high selectivity values for the He/N₂ gas pair in the resulting membrane modules.

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